The End is Near
by tophercolfer
Summary: Prequel to A New Beginning: Kurt just accepts what happens to him now. He's been dealing with this for most of his life. It couldn't get any worse...right?
1. Prologue

**A/N: So I've decided to write the prequel to A New Beginning. I just can't let go of that story yet. So here is the** **Prologue. I really hope you guys all like it.**

 **To new readers, you do not have to read A New Beginning first if you don't want to. Read any way you please.**

 **I post warnings for each chapter before they begin. But I'll say now, this story will have quite a bit of violence and angst. If either of those are not your thing or it's triggering, you probably shouldn't read. I don't make it too graphic though but I always warn you.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Kurt's dad would always tell him not to let anyone push him around, because Hummels don't let other people push them around. His dad would tell him to be himself, even when no one seemed to understand or like who he was. He would tell him he was this special person, made for great things...

and Kurt believed him.

Kurt's mom tells him that he's a weakling. She tells him that he's a disappointment and that he's nothing but a burden to everyone in his life. She tells him he's nothing special and that there is no way he'll ever change that about himself...

and Kurt believes her.

His mom told him his dad died on his 13th birthday. He hadn't seen him since she made him live with her after the divorce. Kurt cried. A part of his spirit died when he learned that he'd never see his father again. After that, his mom beat the rest of it out of him. He never fought back. He became the weakling, he became the disappointment, he became nothing.

During Kurt's freshman year of high school, he decided to end everything. He decided that enough was enough. The abuse from the bullies at school and the one at home was too much for him. He was going to kill himself. And for some reason, he found himself looking forward to it...

Until one almost annoyingly bubbly but understanding boy saved him from suffocating in a locker, and introduced him to a place where people seemed to actually care.

Today he starts at Dalton Academy because of Blaine Anderson, his first friend in years.

But even a better school environment and new friends can't take away the fact that everyday he has to go home and face his mother.

It doesn't take away from the fact that no one has a clue that he's being abused.

It doesn't take away from the fact that no matter what, he refuses to tell anyone.

Because sadly, she's all that he has.

Even if she doesn't want him.

She's all he has.

* * *

 **Thoughts, questions, concerns? Please review!**

 **Just a warning, this story is gonna be a whole lot of angst. Hold on to you seat-belts people, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.**

 **Until next time! xx**


	2. Kurt's at Dalton

**A/N: I wanted to give you guys another chapter right off the back since the Prologue was so short. I hope you like it!**

 **Kurt's thoughts are in Italics. Blaine's texts are in Bold.**

 **Warning(s): Violence, Homophobia, Swearing**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Now this is Kurt's schedule. Blaine Anderson will be down in a few to show Kurt to his classes. You are welcome to stay until he comes Ms. Hummel." The receptionist in the main office says with a smile. Kurt's mom, Elizabeth, smiles almost sweetly back.

"I should head out now or I'll be late for work." Kurt resists the urge to roll his eyes. She recently got fired. So the sentence should have been 'I should head out now so I can go get drunk'.

She turns to him and kept the sweet smile on her face. "Have a good day Kurt." She kisses his forehead and he felt cold. He was so relieved when she left.

"Hey, there you are!" Kurt turns quickly at the sound of Blaine's voice. He doesn't think he'll ever get use to Blaine. First he saves him from suffocating in locker, then he's having coffee with him and convincing him to transfer to Dalton so he'll be safe. What kind of person does that? "Are you ready to see where your classes are? We have all the same classes this semester so I'll make sure you won't get lost." He winks and Kurt's insides flutter.

"Um yeah sure." He nods. Blaine smiles and reaches for his hand, making him flinch. Blaine's smile drops a bit.

"Sorry, I should have asked first." Blaine says sounding kind of embarrassed.

"No it's okay. I-I I'm just not use to it." _I'm not use to you_.

"A boy holding your hand?" Blaine asks curiously as they began walking down the halls together.

"Anyone holding my hand really." Kurt mumbles, not meaning to actually say it out loud. Luckily, Blaine didn't question him on it. He just grabs his hand and smiles.

"Well hand holding is a wonderful experience." Blaine says eagerly causing Kurt to crack a smile.

"Oh really?" He questions him and Blaine nods.

"Hand holding only solidifies any friendship...according to the gods." Blaine says with a sly smile.

"And what gods would that be?" Kurt decides to humor him.

"The hand holding gods, of course." Blaine says with a completely serious look on his face.

"Of course." Kurt laughs. He's only known Blaine for a short amount of time, but for some reason he feels...lighter when he's around him. Like maybe everything will be okay.

"So first we have English which is in this room." Blaine says stopping at an open classroom. "We are a bit early so you can definitely meet the guys before class starts." Blaine says pulling his hand to guide him into the room. Kurt remembers the first time they had coffee together, Blaine told him about his friends. Even so, he was nervous because he didn't have such a good history of people actually wanting to be his friend. That's why he was still cautious around Blaine. Lovely, hand-holding, silly Blaine. What did he do to deserve a friend like him?

"Hey guys this is Kurt, the guy I've been telling you about." Blaine introduces him to the group of guys all conversing in the back of the classroom. "Kurt, these are my friends, Wes, David, Nick, and Jeff." They all greet him as Blaine said their names.

"Hi Kurt, Blaine's told us a lot about you in the few weeks that's he's known you." Wes says with a smirk on his face that made Blaine glare at him. Kurt just blushes. He didn't know how to respond to that.

"Like how my school was terrible because people stuffed me in lockers and beat me up?" Kurt tries to say it without sounding bitter but he knew it didn't come out that way. The boys eyes all widen. _Nice first impression you're making here Kurt._

"You were stuck in a locker?" One of the boys, David, asks sounding disgusted.

"Was that when you came with me to pick up my sister?" Jeff asks sounding horrified. Kurt looks at Blaine in surprise.

"You didn't tell them?" He asks him. Blaine shook his head.

"Of course not. I wouldn't tell them unless you wanted me to." Blaine says as if it were obvious. Kurt was once again stumped. Blaine was an all around sweetheart. It would be so easy to just trust him unconditionally.

"Well don't worry Kurt. The lockers here aren't big enough to stuff you in." Nick says. Wes rolls his eyes.

"What he means is that no one here is going to hurt you." Wes smiles at Kurt warmly. He wants to believe them so bad, but he didn't know if he could just yet. Was it weird to already feel so welcomed by these people that he barely even knew?

Soon enough, class starts and Blaine guides Kurt to a seat in between him and Wes.

"Wes is in most of the same classes so he'll be tagging along with us." Blaine tells Kurt and he nods.

* * *

Kurt sticks with Blaine and Wes for the remainder of the day. At lunch time, Kurt sits at the table with a bunch of their friends. He couldn't help but feel completely on edge because he knew they would ask him questions about his life.

"So Kurt, how are you liking Dalton so far?" Jeff asks him.

"It's nice. A thousand times better than my last school." Kurt says.

"Just wait until you see how much homework you have to do tonight." Jeff says with a dramatic sigh. Kurt huffs out a laugh at that remark.

"It does seem like a lot of work but I can handle it." He says confidently.

"If you ever need help, Wes is a super genius." Nick jumps into the conversation. Wes rolls his eyes.

"Am not. But I would be glad to help if you ever need it Kurt." Wes smiles and Kurt smiles back in thanks.

"Hey do you sing Kurt?" David asks. "Your beautiful speaking voice makes me thing you can sing." Kurt blushes hard. He looks at Blaine who only rolls his eyes fondly at David.

"Wes your boyfriend is flirting with Kurt." Blaine says with a joking air to his tone. Wes ignores Blaine and continues eating his lunch.

"You're gay? All of you?" Kurt asks looking at the group in shock. They all pause for a second and then laugh.

"Blaine, Nick, and I are. These two are straight." Jeff says.

"Are you gay Kurt?" David asks. Kurt pales a bit. Blaine squeezes his hand and smiles.

"It's okay. Like I've been telling you, no one is going to hurt you here." Blaine promises. Kurt nods shakily and takes a deep breath.

"Y-yeah I am." He admits to them. He kinda expects to be beaten up at this point but none of them seem phased at all.

"Are you out to your family?" Wes asks curiously. Kurt freezes before nodding.

"M-my mom knows." He doesn't elaborate. He didn't think he could mention how much his mother hates him for being gay.

"And your dad?" Nick asks. Kurt looks down at his hands.

"H-he uh..he's not alive." He murmurs. He feels bad for dampening the mood. They shouldn't have to deal with his issues.

"I'm so sorry Kurt." Blaine says sadly. "I bet he would have accepted you." Kurt smiles at Blaine.

"I like to think he would too."

* * *

"So after school people usually go to their clubs. I have the Warblers." Blaine said as they walked through the halls of the school.

"The Warblers?" Kurt asks. Blaine took him to a seating area and they sat down across from each other. Kurt was glad he got a scholarship for this school because with his mother's ever changing career path, he would have never been able to come to a school this regal.

"It's an acapella show choir group." Blaine explained further. "You never answered David's question earlier..can you sing?"

" _Something has changed within me, Something is not the same. I'm through with playing by the rules of someone elses game. Too late for second chances too late to go back to sleep. It's time to trust my instincts close my eyes and leap._ " Kurt bites his lip when he finishes and finds Blaine staring back at him with his mouth agape. "My voice is kind of an acquired taste..." He mumbles.

"You have to most beautiful voice I've ever heard." Blaine sounds in awe of him. No one has ever liked his voice besides his dad, and that was when he was a kid.

"T-thanks." He whispers.

"Can you sing the last note?" Blaine asks. Kurt scoffs.

"I can sing it in my sleep." He smirks before singing the rest of the song for Blaine. He was glad they were alone because Blaine was the only one he trusted to not make fun of him.

"We've got to get you into the Warblers." Blaine says immediately. "Wes is going to faint when he hears you can sing like that." Kurt's eyes widen.

"B-but isn't it a bit too late for trying out?" He babbles.

"I'm the lead in the Warblers. I'm sure I can get them to make an exception." Blaine winks. Kurt's heart skips a beat.

"You don't need to Blaine. Seriously, I don't understand why you are being so nice to me." He tells Blaine. It bothers him that he couldn't get an angle on Blaine. Blaine is so nice to him and likes things about him that so many people hate.

"Because you are a good person Kurt. I like being your friend." Blaine said as if it was that simple but Kurt just does not get it.

"It's just that I'm not so use to people being nice to me for no reason." Kurt whispers sadly. Blaine's expression softens. He moves to sit next to Kurt on the couch.

"You and I aren't that different Kurt." Blaine explains. "At least from what you've told me of course."

"How so?" Kurt asks. Blaine closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. It was the first time Kurt saw Blaine not as put together as he always seems to be.

"I've been bullied before as well. And no one seemed to care or notice that it was happening." Blaine began, his voice was shaking a little. "I didn't tell my family because, it wasn't like they were beating me up or anything. Just making fun of me, knocking stuff out of my hands, shoving me and you know all the stuff middle school kids would do because being mean to someone who wont fight back was funny." he says bitterly and Kurt nods in understanding. "It didn't get worse until I went with a boy to my Sadie Hawkins dance."

"W-what happened?" Kurt asks although he already had a feeling he knew what had happened.

"Some of the bullies at my school weren't happy about that. We didn't even really dance with each other because everyone was giving us disgusted looks. But no one did anything until we were waiting for my brother Cooper to pick us up." Blaine takes a shaky breath and Kurt pushes himself to finally take his hand to comfort him. Blaine smiles gratefully at him and squeezes his hand. "They um..beat the crap out of us basically. Both of us ended up in the hospital. I had a broken arm and a concussion." Kurt gasps.

"That's so terrible. Oh my god Blaine, I'm so sorry you had to go through that." Blaine smiles sadly at him.

"It took some time to get over it. My parents made sure I went to Dalton so nothing like that would happen again. I was actually going to go to your old school Westerville High." Kurt's eyes widen.

"Really?" Blaine nods. "Wow, I-I'm so happy you didn't wind up in that hell hole."

"Well either way I would have met you so I think I would have learned to deal with it." Blaine smirks causing Kurt to blush hard. _Was he flirting with me? No, that's not possible._

"Well it's certainly better this way because you have all these amazing friends here and you still got to meet me." Kurt says.

"And now you're one of those amazing friends." Blaine says seriously. "Because no one deserves to go through anything we've been through. And whoever made you think that you don't deserve friends or deserve to have people be nice to you, is dead wrong." Kurt looks at him in disbelief. "We are friends Kurt Hummel. I have a feeling we'll be friends for a long time and there is no way to get rid of me. I'm like the freckles on your face."

"You grow darker and more noticeable when exposed to the sun?" Kurt jokes and Blaine laughs.

"Well yes, but not what I was going for at all." Blaine teases.

"You're genetic?" Kurt shoots back. Blaine rolls his eyes fondly at him.

"I'll always be with you because that's the type of friend I am. Take it or leave it." Blaine says honestly.  
"If I must." Kurt sighs over-dramatically, but it really means the world to him. "I'll have to learn to put up with your cheesy jokes and references." Blaine laughs.

"You love them." He insists. _I do._

"Keep thinking that Blaine." Kurt smiles and then looks at his phone. It was getting late. "I've actually gotta head home right now, but it was nice...spending this time with you." Blaine gets up and holds out a hand to pull him up.

"This really was nice." Blaine smiles. Without thinking about it, Kurt leans in and hugs him. Blaine seems as surprised as Kurt is by this but he immediately hugs back. Kurt closes his eyes and soaks it all in. _I haven't been hugged in so long. Please never let this stop._ Sadly, Blaine pulls away but he notices the look on Kurt's face. "Are you okay?" Kurt nods.

"Yeah I'm fine...Sorry if the hug was uncalled for." He quickly changes the subject. Blaine's smile comes back.

"I'll have you know I'm a big hugger, you'll never have to apologize for that." Kurt tries his hardest not to blush again.

"I'll keep that in mind. You should get to your Warbler's practice. I don't want all your friends to hate me." Kurt laughs self-consciously.

"They already think you're great Kurt trust me." Blaine says. _I really do trust you._

"Okay." Kurt nods. "But you should really go. It's kind of bad taste to be lead and be late." Blaine shrugs and they both begin walking to the hallway.

"You're right." Blaine smiles. They both pause before they turn their separate ways. "So I'll text you later to let you know if Wes will let you audition."

"O-okay. I'll talk to you later then." Kurt waves to Blaine and starts to walk backwards toward the other end of the school.

"Bye Kurt."

* * *

 **Kurt you've got an audition! -Blaine :) 6:17**

Kurt smiles slightly at his phone. He didn't know how Blaine did it but he would take it. He's always wanted to be in some kind of Glee club. After all, his dream is to one day star on Broadway.

"What the hell are you smiling at?" Kurt looks up to see his mom in the doorway of his room. _You should have closed the door, why are you so stupid?_

"I'm just talking to a friend." He mumbles putting his phone down on his bed.

"What friend?" She raises an eyebrow. She obviously knew he hasn't had any friends in a long time.

"Uh..from Dalton. H-his name is Blaine." He looks at her not knowing what her reaction will be. She's been kind of tame recently. She probably doesn't want anyone at his school to get suspicious. His last school didn't give a damn if he came to class covered in bruises, but Dalton was different.

"Do you like him? I will not tolerate any faggy shit going on in my house Kurt." She spoke harshly. Kurt clenches his fist tightly.

"W-we are just friends." He murmurs. His phone vibrates again.

 **Just so you know you owe me so much. Wes is a hard person to get to change his mind. -Blaine :) 6:23**

He almost forgets his mom is watching him because he smiles and chuckles at Blaine's message.

"Well it better stay that way." She snatches the phone away and tosses it at the wall. "Go do the dishes and then go to bed. I have a job interview in the morning, so I don't have time to clean up your mess." She says, finally beginning to leave his room.

"You mean your mess." Kurt quickly covers his mouth, not meaning to have said it out loud. He knew better by now than to speak back to his mother. Before he knew it, she grasped his hair in her fist and drags him out of his bed and onto the floor. There was a sharp kick to his back, making him cry out in pain.

"You don't speak back to me. Go do what I told you to do then get your ass to bed." She hisses and promptly leaves the room. Kurt lays there on the floor for a while before getting up to check the state of his phone. It had a crack going across the screen but it still worked well.

 **Call me when you see these? -Blaine :) 6:29**

He didn't call right then, because he knew his mother would come back and do something much worse to him if he didn't do what she told him to do. So he does the dishes, makes himself a sandwich for dinner, and heads back to his room. He washes up and gets into his pajamas before finally deciding to call Blaine.

"Hey there." Kurt couldn't help but smile at the sound of Blaine's voice. It just made him feel warm.

"Hi Blaine." Kurt murmurs. "Thanks for getting me the audition."

"I would say no problem but Wes is mad at me for messing with Warblers schedule, so you better be good tomorrow." Blaine jokes.

"I will be amazing of course." Kurt huffs and Blaine chuckles.

"I would expect nothing less." He says and Kurt can feel that he's not joking.

"Any pointers so I don't make a fool of myself in front of your friends?" He asks.

"Just so you know I'm rolling my eyes so hard at you right now." Blaine says and Kurt laughs. "Well Wes would say just be prepared and you don't have to pull out all the stops for this audition. The Warblers of course prefer acapella singing but if you need accompaniment you need to bring your own music."

"Wes seems cool." Kurt says.

"Just wait until you get into the Warblers. He's a tyrant." Blaine scoffs. "David would say to do whatever the hell you want."

"Hmm I like David."

"Thad would say, 'Whatever Blaine says is fine with me'." Kurt laughs.

"Sounds like Thad has a little crush on you." He hears Blaine laugh.

"He does but he's not really my type."

"And what is Blaine Anderson's type?" _I hope that didn't sound flirty. I'm not trying to be flirty? Right?_

"Someone who likes me and understands me. Someone sweet and kindhearted. He has to be funny." Blaine lists.

"So Thad isn't funny, kind, and understanding?" Kurt teases him.

"He is, but you know when you like someone don't you? You think about them a lot, you want to be around them all the time, you just know." Blaine says softly as if he already has someone in mind.

"Y-yeah." Kurt says in a small voice. _Is that why I think about you so much? Even though half the time I can't believe you are real? Even though I've barely known you for that long?_ "Hey, you never said what pointers you would give me." He subtly changes the subject.

"Well I would just tell you to be yourself. You are amazing Kurt, and they are going to love you." Blaine says simply but it meant the world to Kurt.

"Thanks Blaine." Is the most he could say at the moment. "I-I uh have to go. Need to finish up all the catch up homework I have."

"Oh," Blaine sounds disappointed, "I'll see you in class tomorrow. And if you ever need homework help I'd be happy to help out."

"Thanks Blaine, I'll keep that in mind. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Kurt."

After Kurt hangs up the phone, he continues to do the homework he started prior to his mom coming in the room. The whole time he couldn't get Blaine off his mind. Today Blaine held his hand. Blaine let his walls down for him and told him about when he was gay bashed, and Kurt hugged him. Did he like Blaine? Did Blaine like him? Kurt put that idea out of his mind, not wanting to cause himself any stress. Besides even if Kurt did like Blaine, Blaine could never like someone as worthless as Kurt.

* * *

 **What did you all think of this chapter? Please let me know with a review! :)**

 **I will try to post again as soon as possible!**

 **Until next time! xx**


	3. Audition Time

**A/N: Sorry Ii took so long with this chapter! I've been super busy! Hope you enjoy!**

 **Warning(s): Homophobia, violence, swearing, child abuse, suicidal thoughts**

* * *

"Ready for your audition this afternoon." Kurt flinches violently, surprised that anyone was talking to him. He was extremely early to class so no one was in the classroom when he arrived. He decided to just sit down and draw a few designs in his notebook to pass the time. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you." It was Blaine's friend, Wes.

"I-it's okay." Kurt says, his face turning red in embarrassment. "I think I'm ready." Wes smiles kindly at him.

"Blaine said you are good, and I trust him." Wes tells him.

"I'll try not to disappoint." Kurt tries to say in a teasing manner but it comes out more nervous than anything.

"Don't be nervous. You'll do fine." Wes assures him. Kurt wonders why he is being so nice to him. It feels so strange not to have anyone be rude towards him. "How did you do with your homework last night?" Wes asks Kurt.

"I finished it all. It was a lot but I got through it." Kurt tells him.

"You want to compare answers?" Wes asks. Kurt nods and takes out all the homework that was due. They start comparing their math homework together.

"Can I ask you a question?" Kurt asks Wes. He nods.

"Of course, you can ask me anything." Wes says.

"How are you all so close? You, Nick, Jeff, David, and Blaine. It's only 2 months into high school and it seems like you've been friends for years."

"Oh well in the summer there was this program for freshmen, so we could get use to being here bond with each other." Wes explains. "It was kind of like summer camp."

"So you've been close since then." Kurt wishes he had friendships like they do. Well he has Blaine. Blaine is sort of his best friend.

"Yeah, it took a while for Blaine to warm up to us though. Did he tell you about what happened to him?" Wes asks and Kurt nods. "He was so afraid to tell us he was gay. He was so afraid to be himself. But we did our best to make him feel safe."

"It's hard to imagine Blaine not being all smiley and confident." Kurt's only seem him not put together for a short amount of time. To think there was a time where Blaine was like Kurt is now, that's not something Kurt wants to think about.

"He's a tough guy that's for sure. That's probably why everyone likes him so much. He cares way more about making other people happy than anything else." Wes says.

"I've never met anyone like him. He didn't know me at all but he helped me out." Kurt tells Wes. Blaine was like a Prince in one of those fairytales his dad read him when he was younger. Except Kurt knows how his story is going to end, no matter how much he wishes things were different.

"That's what friends do. What have you never had a friend before?" Wes chuckles but at the look on Kurt's face he immediately catches himself. "You haven't had a good friend in a while have you?"

"People take one look at me, or hear my voice, or see the way I act and treat me like I'm some infectious disease." Kurt admits. "I've had some friends, but never the kind that last." Wes looks at Kurt weirdly for a second.

"Can I be brutally honest with you for a second?" Wes asks seriously.

"You want me to stop being friends with Blaine because you find me weird and disgusting?" Kurt tries to guess what Wes is going to say. Wes could tell that Kurt actually thought it would be a possibility that he would ask him that.

"I would never ask you to do that. Blaine would be devastated if you weren't his friend. And besides, we're friends now, don't you think?" Wes didn't let Kurt answer that question. "What I was going to say is that, there are bullies everywhere Kurt. Not every boy here cares that there is a zero tolerance no bullying policy. They are just more discrete about how they bully others. But the one difference for you here than when you were at any of your other schools, is that you have friends who will be there if anyone is treating you badly. Believe it or not, you don't need to know someone for years to care for them. We already like you."

"I think another difference might be you guys. You, Blaine, and the others. No one has ever accepted me with open arms besides my dad." Kurt did not want to get emotional right before class started. "I just want to say thank you. You have no idea what it means to me. Really." Wes smiles and pats Kurt on the shoulder.

"Anytime. Get ready for 4 years of pure craziness." Wes joked but Kurt had a feeling there was going to be a lot of truth to that.

"Looks like Kurt's an early bird like Wes." Both Wes and Kurt turn to the door and see David, Nick, Jeff, and Blaine strolling in.

"You do realize that class starts at 8 and not 7 right?" Jeff asks Wes.

"Wes lives in the classrooms remember? He's a giant nerd." Nick teases.

"Just so you know Kurt was in here before I got here." Wes rolls his eyes at the boys.

"Awww now you'll have Kurt to keep you company until David arrives." Blaine smirks at Wes.

"Kurt, you're hot and all but don't go trying to steal my man." David says, hopping up onto Wes' desk.

"You know you're the reason everyone thinks we're together." Wes glares at David but Kurt can tell he doesn't mind.

"Anyway, Blaine made you sound really good during Warblers practice yesterday Kurt. We're all really looking forward to your audition." David tells Kurt. Kurt tries his best to smile.

"Blaine probably oversold me." Kurt says nervously. He loved to sing but to many his voice was something to poke fun at.

"Nope, you're just selling yourself short." Blaine stood behind Kurt and places his hands on his shoulders. "Kurt Hummel is going to knock your socks off."

* * *

One thing Kurt was truly afraid of was disappointing people. He obviously disappoints his mother by just existing but to disappoint his new friends would confirm that he really is a disappointment.

Throughout the whole day, the only thing he could think of was his audition. What if he messed up? What if he wasn't want to Warblers were looking for? What if they made fun of him? Kurt knew he was good. But what if the boys in the Warblers were just like everyone else who made fun of his voice?

Blaine could tell something was on Kurt's mind. He likes to think he and Kurt are sort of close by now. Kurt may even be his best friend. He's not even going to deny the huge crush he has on him either. Kurt has become an important person in his life in a matter of weeks and feeling that Kurt wasn't okay, bothered him. So after their last class of the day, Blaine approaches him without the other guys around.

"Hey you've been quiet." Blaine says. Kurt looks at him with a frown.

"Have you known me to be loud?" Kurt asks. Blaine rolls his eyes fondly.

"You know what I mean." Blaine insists. "You've barely said a word since this morning. Is something wrong?" Kurt looks down at the floor.

"It's kind of silly actually." Kurt admits.

"You can tell me anything, I'd never judge you." Blaine promises.

"I'm really freaking out about this audition." Kurt tells Blaine. "I know I can sing and I know you like my voice but I've met many people who haven't. I want to impress your friends. I want to be a part of something that I actually care about."

"Kurt, you are so good." Blaine tries to get him to understand. "I promise you, the guys are going to love you. Don't over think it."

"Are you sure I'm not going to stand in front of everyone and spontaneously combust?" Kurt asks with a hint of a smirk on his face.

"I am positive." Blaine chuckles. "Now, what are you going to sing?"

"Either 'Don't Cry for me Argentina' or 'As If We Never Said Goodbye' or 'Blackbird'." Kurt lists off. "I'm not sure which I want to sing. What do you think?"

"I'd love to hear you sing all three." Blaine winks. "But I think it would be cool for you to sing a Beatles song."

"What did you sing for your audition?" Kurt asks.

"Teenage Dream." Blaine smiles. Kurt blushes a little, remembering when they had first met.

...

 _Kurt was tired of living like this. He was tired of going to a horrible school where no one wanted to be his friend and only wanted to hurt him for things he couldn't change about himself. He was tired of going home to a parent that didn't love him and wanted to hurt him even when he didn't do anything. So today was the last day he was going to deal with it._

 _It was the perfect plan._

 _Make it through a full day of school scathed or unscathed. It didn't matter. Then he would come home to either a drunk mother or just an angry one and probably have more bruises on his body. But that wouldn't matter either. He would then go to his room. Write a note to his mom, take a few pills and use the razor that his mom had used to carve the word 'burden' onto his skin._

 _He didn't have to deal with this anymore._

 _His mother wouldn't save him anyways._

 _The day started the same as always. The jocks teased him and Kurt assumed they were gonna throw him in the dumpster like always but they decided they were going to spice it up a little._

 _They were going to shove him in one of the big lockers in the hallway and leave him there._

" _Get off me!" Kurt shouted. He squirmed all he could but it didn't seem to work. "Help! Please!"_

" _Shut up faggot." One of the guys holding him spat. He tried to jerk out of their grip but they were too strong._

" _Please don't do this!" Kurt cried. They just laughed and roughly shoved him in the big empty locker. They shut the door quickly._

" _How does it feel to be back in the closet fairy?" The second boy laughed. Kurt could barely breathe in the small confined space._

" _Please." He gasped. "Please let me out..I-I can't breathe." He pleaded. They just laughed more and left. Kurt felt hot tears spilling down his cheeks. He banged on the locker and yelled for help, crying harder when he heard footsteps walk by. They all knew he was in there, but no one would help the gay kid. He didn't know how long he was in there but he saved his energy, as not to pass out, and only occasionally shook the locker door. And out of nowhere two pairs of footsteps stood in front of the door._

" _Jeff, I'll catch up..I think someone is in here." A voice said. Kurt almost cried out in relief. One of the pairs of shoes walked away and basically fell out the locker when it was opened. He gasped for air as he fell to the floor._

" _Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!" The guy asked. Kurt shook his head and couldn't help but sob. The boy looked around before gathering him in his arms. "Hey shhh it's okay...You're fine now..Just let it all out." The guy soothed. Kurt didn't know how long he cried. The boy obviously didn't know what to do and just began singing._

 _ **You think I'm pretty without any make-up on  
You think I'm funny when I tell the punch line wrong  
I know you get me, so I let my walls come down, down  
Before you met me, I was alright  
But things were kinda heavy, you brought me to life  
Now every February you'll be my valentine, valentine**_

 _Soon Kurt was done crying and was looking at the stranger with awe and confusion. No one had ever helped him out before. In fact he was very sure he's never seen this guy before._

" _Who are you?" Kurt asked._

" _I'm Blaine. I was with my friend to pick up his sister who actually goes here and I heard you,and I just had to help you out." Blaine said with a small smile. Kurt was silent. "What's you're name?"_

" _I'm Kurt." Kurt whispered. Blaine smiled wider._

" _It's nice to meet you Kurt." They stare at each other a little too long and Kurt blushes when he realizes he is still in Blaine's lap._

" _Oh sorry." Kurt says and stands up._

" _It's okay." Blaine stands up as well._ _"Who did this to you Kurt?" Blaine asked him with a concerned expression._

" _Just some ignorant jocks..like always." Kurt responded but walked away towards his locker. He wasn't expecting Blaine to follow._

" _You should really tell someone. They can't do that. It isn't right." Blaine said speeding up his pace so he could walk alongside Kurt._

" _Yeah well it's just how things are." Kurt said opening his locker not surprised to find a bunch of stupid notes telling him he's a fag and that he should kill himself._

" _Why don't you just transfer? It isn't safe here." Blaine asked him. Kurt narrowed his eyes at him._

" _Why would you care? You don't even know me." Kurt snapped at him. Blaine didn't falter though._

" _Because I know how it is to deal with ignorant jocks. I may not know you but I think we could be friends.." Blaine finished off nervously. Kurt's mouth dropped a little at that._

" _What?" He asked._

" _We could be friends. And I could show you my school. It has a zero-tolerance no bullying policy and the people are really great." Blaine rambled. Kurt still couldn't get past the fact that Blaine wanted to be his friend._

" _Blaine!" Came the voice of a blonde haired boy at the end of the hallway. "Come on! Lets go!" Blaine turned back to Kurt who had already turned back to look into his locker._

" _Look...can I give you my number? That way we can talk. I'd really like it if I could see you again Kurt." Blaine told him. Kurt turned around still unsure of Blaine's motives but gave him his phone anyways. Blaine put his number in and handed Kurt back his phone and smiled. "I have to go...i hope you'll call or text or whatever.."_

" _You ramble a lot." Kurt murmured. Blaine blushed a bit._

" _I know...I'm sorry..I just hope you're okay. I mean it, I really want to be friends." Blaine said sincerely and Kurt nodded hesitantly._

" _I'll text you then.." He said and Blaine smiled._

" _Great." He beamed then cleared his throat. "Well..I think I should go find my friend."_

" _You go do that." Kurt said, his lips quirking up a bit. He found Blaine amusing._

" _Bye Kurt." Blaine said finally walking away. Kurt waved at him and when Blaine was out of sight he frowned. Things like this don't happen to him._

 _He went home that day and unsurprisingly his mother wasn't home. So he went straight to his room and took out the Tylenol from his medicine cabinet and the small black box with the razor blade inside of it. He opened the bottle with shaking hands and took out a bunch of the pills. He was about to pop one in his mouth when his phone vibrated. He looked at it in curiosity and the message made his heart skipped a beat._

 _ **Hey Kurt...i kind of gave myself your number..hope that isn't creepy. I was just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out tomorrow...so we can work on being friends? -Blaine :)**_

 _Kurt was shocked. He wasn't planning on texting Blaine. He didn't think Blaine was being serious. But apparently he was. He took a deep breath and after some consideration he placed the pills back and put them away in the box along with the blade._

 _ **After school at the Lima Bean? They make good coffee. -Kurt**_

 _ **I'll be there ;) -Blaine :)**_

 ** _..._**

"I hated the song before I met you." Kurt blurts out and mentally berates himself. _Why don't you confess your undying love for the guy next?_

"Oh really?" Blaine asks cheekily.

"A lot of things have changed since I met you." Kurt says quietly. Blaine's eyes soften.

"In a good way I hope." He tries to lighten the mood.

"Of course." Kurt smiles. "Thank you Blaine."

"For what?" Blaine asks.

"For.." _For saving me, for being here for me, for being in my life, for being you._ "helping me with my nervousness." _That was lame Kurt._

"Anytime."

* * *

"Traditionally, the Warblers don't accept new members at this time; but our lead is extremely impressed by the talents of a new student at Dalton." Wes had decided to start each meeting with an inspiring speech. It was one sure fire way to feel like he was a good leader. "All of us are freshman since the majority of the Warblers from last year were Seniors and the few Juniors and Sophomores in the group decided they didn't want to be in a group with a bunch of Freshmen. Just because we are new doesn't mean we can't make this the best 4 years the Warblers have ever had. We will prove that we know what we are doing. We will start by being lenient with some of the rules. So with that I welcome Kurt Hummel to audition for us." Wes gestured for Blaine to let Kurt in.

"Whenever you're ready Kurt." David said when Kurt stepped into the room.

Kurt surveyed the room, when his eyes met with Blaine's he took at deep breath. He wasn't too nervous anymore. He trusted what Blaine told him earlier. _Don't over think it Kurt, just sing._

 _ **Blackbird singing in the dead of the night  
Take these broken wings and learn to fly  
All your life  
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.**_

 _ **Blackbird singing in the dead of the night  
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see  
All your life  
You were only waiting for this moment to be free.**_

 _ **Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly  
Into the light of the dark black night.**_

 _ **Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly  
Into the light of the dark black night.**_

 _ **Blackbird singing in the dead of the night  
Take these broken wings and learn to fly  
All your life  
You were only waiting for this moment to arise  
You were only waiting for this moment to arise  
You were only waiting for this moment to arise**_

As soon as Kurt finishes letting out the final note of the the song there was applause. He holds in his smile because he was just sure they were being polite. He looks to Blaine who was openly smiling at him and sent him a wink. He looks over to Wes who is whispering with David and another member of the Warblers, Thad.

"What's your range Kurt?" Wes asks.

"He's a countertenor." Blaine says before he even had a chance to open his mouth. Wes, David, and Thad look at Blaine in amusement.

"Thank you _Kurt_." David teases Blaine. Kurt looks over to Blaine and is a little surprised to see Blaine blush. It was cute.

"I don't think I need to ask this but all in favor of letting Kurt into the Warblers?" Wes asks and all the hands in the room shoot up. "It's unanimous. Welcome to the Warblers Kurt."

Kurt hasn't had a lot of big positive memorable moments in his life. The past few years of his life have been a bunch of negative happenings. The best thing that has happened to him in a while was this. Being accepted by his fellow peers is something that has never happened. The feeling was amazing. He only wished he had someone to go home to who would actually be proud of him.

* * *

"You were amazing today." Blaine comes up to him as soon as his first Warblers meeting ends. They mostly worked on stage positions and vocal exercises. It was pretty fun.

"Thanks." Kurt smiles. "Blackbird is one of my favorite Beatles songs so I had to do it justice."

"It seemed like it meant a lot to you." Blaine brings up.

"My dad...he would sing to me a lot. Didn't have much of a singing voice but I never minded. I always loved hearing him sing to me. It never failed to calm me down. That was one of the last songs I remember him singing to me." Kurt always felt sad thinking of his dad but his dad is where his strength came from.

"Your dad sounds like he was a wonderful man." Blaine gives him a sad smile. "He would be so proud of you right now." Some how Blaine always knew the right thing to say to him.

"Thanks Blaine." Kurt says. He wants to say more but stops short when he sees Blaine's friends walking over.

"Hey you guys wanna go get some coffee?" Jeff asks. "To celebrate Kurt of course." Kurt's eyes widen.

"Me?" He asks in disbelief.

"Of course man. That was an amazing performance. With you we can't lose." David wraps an arm around Kurt's shoulders.

"How high can you sing?" Nick asks him. Kurt was surprised he actually sounds interested.

"Yeah, Blaine said you can sing Defying Gravity." Wes chimes in.

"Can you sing it for us?" Jeff asks eagerly.

"Guys leave Kurt alone." Blaine rolls his eyes.

"Aw Blainey is jealous because we're hogging his new friend." David jokes. Kurt's been blushing during this whole exchange.

"Kurt, I apologize for them." Blaine tells him. Kurt laughs. "Do you want to get coffee with us?"

"Um..." Kurt knows if he gets home late his mother isn't going to be happy. She's never happy with him. "Okay lets go." The rest of the boys cheer. Kurt had a feeling this was a bad idea but he wanted to hang out with his new friends. So forgot about what was going to happen to him when he went home and decided to have some fun for once.

* * *

Blaine's friends were great. Kurt really liked them. They brought him coffee and a huge cookie even though he told them he could pay for it on his own. They made him feel like he belonged with them, never leaving him out of the conversation and letting him in on little jokes they made about each other. It felt great. He went home with a smile on his face.

When he opened the door it immediately reeked of beer. _That's never good. Just go straight to your room Kurt._

He stopped in the kitchen quickly just to get him something to eat for later if he got hungry. He made it to his room surprised to see his mother was on his bed with his cell phone. _Crap. How did I forget my phone?_

"'Your audition took my breath away Kurt. You underestimate yourself too much. You're amazing and I'm so glad you're in the group. Maybe we can convince Wes to let us duet.'" His mother reads from his phone. She looks up at him. "This is why you're so late. You're out playing around with these boys and joining meaningless clubs?" Kurt's eyes water.

"It's not meaningless to me." He whispers. His palms are getting sweaty and his heart beat is picking up.

"Is that boy in the club too? Is this a way to try and get him to like you?" His mother smirks.

"He asked me to audition." Kurt says. "We are just friends."

"Doesn't sound like it." She waves the phone to emphasize her point. Just then another message comes in. "'I just listened to that other song you said your father sang to you. It's beautiful. Do you still get panic attacks?' Do you sweetie?" She asks in a sickeningly sweet voice. She knows he's one the verge of one. He doesn't get them too often but when he does they are pretty bad.

He watches his mother stand up. And come closer to him. She's still smiling.

"You miss your daddy Kurt?" She asks. He doesn't answer. "You think he'll be proud of someone like you? Throwing yourself at all these boys. Making yourself believe you're actually talented."

"H-he always su-supported me." Kurt says quietly. "Blaine thinks he would be proud of me." She frowned at the mention of Blaine's name.

"So your little friend knows that your mother puts you in your place every now and then." She pushes him. "Does he know that you can't stand up for yourself?" She punches him in the stomach causing him to double over. "Do you think your dad would be proud right now?" She pushes him into the wall. "Fight back, if you're so tough." Kurt's holding in tears, trying to keep his breathing regulated. He was in so much pain but he felt like he deserved it.

He cries out in pain when his mother pushes him hard to the floor. He lands wrong on his hand and he's almost positive that he's sprains his wrist. He looks up and his mother is rolling her eyes.

"You're gonna tell your school that you tripped or something tomorrow." She walks out of the room.

Usually when he gets severely hurt by her, like if anything was broken or twisted, she would take him to the ER. She would put on her good mother mask so no one was suspicious about the fake stories about what happened. Other times, like now, he would have to tend to his wounds himself. So he gets his first aid kit and wraps his wrist with a bandage. He's done it before and he knows he'll have to do it again.

He slowly got into bed and turned off his phone, not ready to talk to Blaine just yet. He has had such a good day today only for his mother to ruin it for him.

Why couldn't she just let him be happy?

* * *

 **Let me know what you guys thought of this chapter with a review!**

 **Until next time! xx**


	4. Lying is Hard

**A/N: Not going to lie, I was feeling discouraged after how little reviews/feedback I was given for the last chapter. I was pretty proud of the last chapter but didn't get much response. I hope you guys like this chapter better. Please let me know if there is anything to work on, or anything you want me to include.**

 **Sorry, to those of you still reading, for taking super long with this chapter. It's pretty long and has a lot of good moments in it. My favorite chapter so far.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Warning(s): Violence, Child Abuse, Swearing**

* * *

When Kurt went to school with the bandage on his wrist, he knew he had to start using his "I'm such a klutz" excuse. He remembered using it all throughout middle school. Truth be told, no one really cared back then. But now was different. He had friends now, friends who wanted to know his stories and who would probably care about him having a sprained wrist.

He makes it to class a little later than he did yesterday and his new friends are all there. Wes is the first one to see him and unsurprisingly, his eyes immediately go to his wrist.

"What happened to your wrist?" Wes asks. Kurt puts on his awkward 'this happens all the time' smile.

"Oh, I just tripped on my way home yesterday and sprained my wrist. I'm extremely clumsy." Kurt says simply. Blaine looks more concerned than Kurt wanted him to be.

"You tripped and fell hard enough to sprain your wrist? Did you get it check out to make sure it's just a sprain?" Blaine asks. Kurt feels warm inside because it's so sweet of Blaine to care about him like he does, but he knows he can't act like it's a big deal. _You just tripped and fell Kurt, you're fine. They don't need to know anything else._

"I know what a sprain feels like." Kurt laughs. "Trust me I sprain and bruise really easy, so it's not difficult for me to get hurt. I'm fine, at least it's not the hand I write with." Blaine looks a little less concerned but is still frowning.

"Blaine, he just said he's fine." David nudges Blaine. Blaine rolls his eyes.

"Well excuse me for caring. I was just making sure he was okay." Blaine explains.

"Clumsy people get hurt all the time." Nick says patting Blaine's shoulder. "Kurt will be okay. Relax." Kurt watches as Blaine sighs and nods.

"Do you need some help with you books and stuff?" Blaine asks, lifting Kurt's bag off his shoulder and placing it on his desk. He notices that all of Blaine's friends are nodding in the background. _Weird._

"Um, yes that would be helpful." Kurt says. The smile on Blaine's face was infectious.

Blaine helped as much as he could and by lunch time Kurt was all too confused. He enjoyed it a little but Kurt only had a sprained wrist why would he care so much. When Blaine left the lunch table to go to the bathroom Kurt wasted no time asking the boys what was going on.

"Can someone please tell me why Blaine is treating me like I broke every bone in my body?" Kurt asks them.

"Blaine is kind of protective of certain people." Wes says carefully. Kurt narrows his eyes, not quite understanding.

"He sees a lot of himself in you." David tries to make it easier for Kurt to figure out. Kurt still doesn't get what any of that had to do with what as going on.

"So he treats me like this because I remind him of himself?" Kurt questions.

"Kurt he thinks you're lying about how you got hurt." Jeff says bluntly. "So he's trying to make you feel like you can rely on him for anything. He cares about you a lot." Kurt feels a sinking feeling in his stomach. He's always felt kind of weird lying about his injuries but now that people actually care about his well being it really bad. But he had to lie.

"Oh." Kurt says simply.

"So are you lying?" Nick asks delicately. Kurt almost considers saying yes. He wishes he could.

"No, I am just really clumsy. I wouldn't lie to Blaine." Kurt feels like throwing up when he says that. He doesn't want to lie but what other choice would he have? His mom would kill him if he ever told anyone.

"Before the Warblers meeting, why don't you talk to him about it?" Wes suggests. "He's just a bit worried about you." Kurt nods. When Blaine returns they pretend the conversation never happened.

* * *

"Hey can we talk?" Kurt asks as their last class ends. Blaine looks up from where he was packing his stuff up. He looks almost as if he knew Kurt would want to talk.

"Yeah of course." He grabs his bookbag and helps Kurt put his on. They leave the classroom together and walked to where they had talked on the first day. "What did you want to talk about?"

"You don't believe how I sprained my wrist." Kurt says.

"It's okay if you didn't want to tell me the truth about it." Blaine says. Kurt feels his stomach turn again. _I hate this._

"Blaine, I really did just trip and fall." Kurt says. The more he says it out loud, the more he believes it. It was his fault after all.

Blaine looks at him hard for a while almost like he still didn't believe him.

"Really?" Blaine asks.

"I wouldn't lie about this Blaine. If someone hurt me, you would be the first to know." Kurt takes Blaine's hand and smiles at him softly. "It's really sweet that you've been helping out all day but I'm okay Blaine. I really am." _No I'm not, but I can't tell you that._

"Oh." Blaine laughs and his face flushes a little bit as if he was embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I didn't believe you. I was just really worried." Blaine absentmindedly stokes the back of Kurt's hand with his thumb.

"It's okay. I understand. It's nice to have someone who cares as much as you do." Kurt admits.

"I'm just glad you're okay." Blaine smiles. They smile at each other a little too long and then realize they are still holding hands. They hesitantly let get go, pretending not to notice the others blushing face.

"Hey, um what made you really think I was lying?" Kurt asks curiously. Blaine shrugs.

"Something about the way you said it and your face when you said it." Blaine says. "It seemed off to me. Like it pained you to say what happened." Kurt couldn't believe that Blaine could see all that from just looking at him and listening to him lie. And that Blaine trusted him enough to let go of that feeling because Kurt said he wouldn't lie. _I don't deserve you as a friend._

"Oh well I guess I was just a little embarrassed. And I didn't think anyone would care that much to be honest. It was weird to have someone tell this to." It wasn't a lie. This was new territory for Kurt. He had more than one person to talk to. He couldn't tell them anything serious and he couldn't let them get too close. But he had all these people now who wanted to hear what he had to say.

"You don't have to be embarrassed about anything. All that matters is that you're okay." Blaine smiles softly at him. "Now why don't we head to the meeting? It's a good thing for you that Wes isn't making us do handstands. You would have to do them with one arm."

"Oh is your choreography that crazy?" Kurt teases.

"You'd be surprised." Blaine smirks.

"Yeah because the videos of past Warblers performances you sent me showed a _very_ complex two-step routine. I don't know if I could keep up with that." Kurt says sarcastically. Blaine couldn't keep in his laugh.

"Hey, that was the old Warblers. We are the new and improved Warblers. We are more cool and hip."

"Using 'hip' actually makes it worse."

"How about fresh?"

"Let's just stick with new and improved."

* * *

 **~ONE MONTH LATER~**

After a month at the school, Kurt was feeling like he really belong at Dalton. The only problem was the work load. Since he was a transfer student, he missed quite a bit of work. So he had to catch up and keep up with the current work. It kind of sucked but he did his best. His best meant staying up all night getting as much done as he possibly could. This, unfortunately, also meant that he was tired all the time. He's even fallen asleep in class a few times. And that's the kind of thing that gets you sent to the Headmaster's office.

"Mr. Hummel, believe it or not, falling asleep in class is pretty common for newcomers. Is it the work load?" Mr. Keaton asks.

"Yes. There's just so much to get done and I just want to catch up." Kurt feels a little embarrassed to be in the Headmasters office for something as simple as falling asleep in class. He didn't mean to fall asleep. He tried so hard not to.

"Mr. Hummel, if you need some help we have tutoring services. Also, I've noticed you're friends with some really great students, I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping you out."

"I understand all the work. It's just a lot to get done." Kurt looks at his hands. "I promise I'll do better."

"Your teachers are just concerned about you falling asleep constantly. Your work, so far, is fairly impressive. Are you sure there isn't anything happening at home that's keeping you awake. This is just a warning but if this continues we have to call your mother-"

"NO!" Kurt immediately yells out. The Headmaster is startled by Kurt's reaction. "I-I mean you don't need to do that. I promise I'll do better." The Headmaster looks at him strangely for a second before nodding his head.

"Okay, I'll let you go back to class now. Are you sure there isn't anything you want to tell me?" The headmaster asks. Kurt can tell he isn't going to push him to say anything but he wishes he could. He remembers what happened last night.

...

 ** _~Last Night~_**

For the past few nights, past 10 p.m. his mother wasn't home. He couldn't help but feel worried. While he cherishes every single moment she's not around, he wouldn't have anyone left if she were gone. He would have no family. So he stayed up each night until he was sure she was home.

Every single one of those nights, she would come home drunk. Kurt knew better to stay out of her way when that was the case. But the pure terror felt knowing she was drunk made it hard for him to fall asleep. He felt on edge because he had no way of knowing if she was going to come into his room and hurt him or not.

Last night, he heard her in the kitchen, breaking things and sounding angry for some reason. He didn't know why he always felt bad for her. He should hate her more than anything. He only wished he could do something to change how she felt about him. Which is why he, stupidly, left the room to see what was wrong.

"Mom? A-are you okay?" He asked softly as he walked into the kitchen. She looked over at him slowly and frowned.

"What the fuck are you doing awake?" She growled. He stumbled backward a little, as if the sound of her voice physically pushed him. _Bad idea Kurt. Really bad idea._

"I-I was um wa-waiting up for you." He tried to explain himself. "And I wanted to make sure you were okay." Something flashed in her eyes. Almost as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Go the fuck to bed." She tossed a glass at him, only hitting him on the arm, but it still happened to hurt. She searched for something else to throw at him. "Do you know how much I fucking pay for that fancy school of yours?" _Not much, I got a scholarship. But of course you don't remember any accomplishments of mine_ "Your job is to stay out of my way and not be such a piece of shit."

Kurt always tries to remind himself not to take anything she says to heart but, things like that kind of stick with you if you hear it enough. It wasn't the first time she said something of that nature. It really hurt.

...

"Are you sure there isn't anything you want to tell me?" He blinks suddenly remembering he was still in front of the Headmaster.

"No sir." Kurt says as convincingly as he could. Mr. Keaton doesn't look so convinced but he lets Kurt go back to class.

He doesn't go straight back to class. He goes to the bathroom to wash his face and calm down a bit. He looks into the mirror and could see the bags under his eyes. _I'm so tired._

"Hey sleepy head." Kurt jumps at the sound of David's voice. "Wow, Wes was right. You really are jumpy."

"Sorry." Kurt apologizes.

"No reason to be sorry. Are you okay?" David asks genuinely.

"Yeah, I'm just really tired." Kurt tells him. David nods.

"The first week of school I was falling asleep in every class." David turns on the hot water to wash his hands. "Don't feel too bad about it."

"It's been like a month though." Kurt looks at David. "I think the teachers being lenient stage is over for me. I think they are pretty pissed at me now." David gives him a sympathetic look.

"I'm not good with comforting speeches like Blaine and Wes so I'm sorry if I'm not helping at all. All I can say is that you'll eventually get into the swing of things. Dalton may seem kind of uptight and scary, but the staff is really understanding. So they probably assume that something is going on that is preventing you from sleeping well. They all just want you to do well. So once you're done snoozing in class, the warning and the pissed stares you get will all fade away. Trust me." Kurt gave David a small smile.

"Thanks David."

"No problem. Now would you like to accompany me back to class?" He asks. Kurt yawns but also nods.

* * *

He managed to stay awake in every class until lunch time. After lunch he was especially tired and could barely keep his eyes open.

"Hey, stay awake." Wes elbows him softly. Kurt picks up his pen to give the impression that he's actually been taking notes.

"I'm trying." Kurt whispers back. He wipes his eyes but that makes him sleepier. He feels someone poke his arm and he looks to his other side to see Blaine looking at him strangely.

"You wanna take a walk?" Blaine murmured. "Ask to use the bathroom, I'll be there in five minutes." Kurt does what Blaine says.

Kurt takes his time walking to the bathroom. He looks at himself in the mirror again. He looks even worse than he did earlier.

"I think you should take a nap during the Warblers meeting." Blaine says when he walks into the bathroom.

"I'm fine." Kurt says defensively.

"I never said you weren't." Blaine says simply. "I just know you are tired Kurt. Missing one meeting is perfectly fine. Sleep is more important." Kurt's expression softens a little.

"I'll think about it." Kurt says. Blaine looks at him like he wants to say something. "I really am okay Blaine. I'm just having a little trouble going to sleep."

"You would tell me if something was going on...right?" Blaine asks him. Kurt bites his lip and nods.

"I think we should head back to class."

* * *

"Take a nap on the couch." Blaine says when he sees Kurt nodding off right before the meeting began.

"I-I'm not tired." Kurt's cheeks were burning with embarrassment. He was extremely tired but he was determined to not go to sleep.

"Fine, lean on me." Blaine tells him. That makes Kurt perk up a little and his cheeks heat up for a different reason.

"Wh-what?" His voice gets a little higher. Blaine doesn't even respond, he just gently wraps an arm around Kurt and brings him closer. Kurt, too tired to argue with Blaine, leans on him. _This is better than how I dreamt it would be._

Within moments Kurt was passed out on Blaine's shoulder.

* * *

That night, his mother actually came home earlier than she had been lately. It was 8:30 by the time his mom got home from work. This week she was working as a bartender not far from where they lived. He hated this job for her. She came home drunk half of the time and either beats him until she has no more strength or just falls asleep on the couch and leaves him without any food. He prefers the last one of course, it was less painful. He has been learning to cook on his own so he didn't mind anymore when she didn't cook anything.

Kurt is doing homework in the kitchen when his mother gets home. Kurt immediately smells alcohol. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, hoping she's tired.

"What the hell is this mess?" She asks, walking into the kitchen to see the mess of Kurt's homework all over the table.

"My homework...I have a lot to catch up." Kurt says, not looking up but continuing to do his homework.

"Go work at your desk." She says.

"Mom, I work better in here." Kurt says looking at her finally. "Why does it even matter to you? The only reason you come in here is to drink or eat the food that _I_ make." She glares at him hard.

"Why does it matter to me?" She asks moving to the table and shoving half the papers to the floor.

"Mom!"

"I own this house!" She claims as she rips a finished draft of an essay.

"Stop! Please!"

"I paid for everything in this house." She says as she balls up more papers, rips some others up, and tosses them all in the garbage.

"Come on! Please I need to finish this." Kurt cries.

"What I say goes okay?" She says grabbing tightly at the collar of his shirt. "Do not talk back to me sweetie. I will punish you way worse than you're use to."

"Okay okay. I'm sorry." Kurt chokes out. She lets go of his collar and smirks at him.

"Going to bed. Enjoy you're homework." She laughs before leaving the kitchen. Kurt puts his head in his hands and tries not to cry. He spends the rest of the night trying to redo the ruined homework but wound up not having time to finish the rest. Which led to him getting trouble in school and having a conference with the Headmaster.

"Kurt's a wonderful student. But he needs to stay on top a his work." The Headmaster, Mr. Keaton says.

Kurt hangs his head down in shame and his mother on the outside looked like a typical loving mother. But it was all a facade. As soon as they were out of Dalton Kurt knew he was in serious trouble.

"I don't know what's gotten into him. I asked him if he wanted help yesterday but he told me he didn't." She lies straight through her teeth.

"Kurt, it's okay to need help. A lot of students have a little trouble with the work load when they first arrive at Dalton. Don't be ashamed of it." Mr. Keaton smiles at Kurt but Kurt couldn't really return it.

"Yes sir." Kurt whispers.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble Kurt caused. He's been acting out a lot lately. He gets it from his father." She says the last part jokingly and Kurt glares at the floor.

"He's caused no trouble Ms. Hummel. We were just concerned. He was falling asleep in a lot of his classes and not doing homework. We just wanted you to know so you could talk to him about it and make sure he gets the right amount of sleep and does his homework." Mr. Keaton smiles. Kurt can tell he's just trying to be helpful. He only wishes the people at this school didn't care so much about his well being. If this was his old school, they would have just ignored it.

"Thank you Mr. Keaton. Will that be all?" She asks smiling. Kurt didn't want this meeting to be over. But sadly it was.

"Yes. Thanks for taking the time to come out here." Mr. Keaton says shaking her hand.

"No problem. As soon as we get home we'll work on a homework and sleeping schedule young man." She scolds him in front of his headmaster. As soon as they were out of his view she grabs his arm tightly and yanks him towards the exit. When they find the car she drives them silently home. When they get inside Kurt is already shaking. He barely gets to the living room before he is being yelled at.

"Why do you always have to be such an inconvenience to me?" She screams. "Why the hell didn't you do your homework? Can you do anything right?"

"Y-you messed up m-my h-h-homework. I was almost done!" Kurt shoots back. She stalks up to him and smacks him.

"Things would be so much easier without you." She grits through her teeth before kneeing him in the stomach. Kurt doubles over.

"So why didn't you just leave me with dad?" Kurt rasps. She pulls him upright and looks at him darkly.

"Because honey, you ruined my life. It's only fair that I ruin yours as well."

"W-what?" He asks confused and then her knee came up to connect with his stomach again. It was a long night. After she was done abusing him, he was sent to his room. He was in too much pain to do any work. He falls asleep with tears falling down his face. It's the best sleep he's got in a while.

* * *

While they were all walking to lunch the next day, instead of going to the cafeteria Wes and Blaine take his arms and direct him to the study area.

"What are you guys doing?" He asks them. They don't answer. He looks behind to see Nick, Jeff, and David following with sandwiches and bottles of water. Once they get to a large table and sit down, they finally speak.

"For the next week we are going to help you catch up on all the homework and keep you on track with the current homework as well." Blaine explains to him. Kurt mouth drops in surprise.

"W-what? You guys don't need to waste your lunch time on me." Kurt says immediately. He couldn't believe they were doing this for him.

"We aren't wasting lunch time. We will still be eating. Now we will just be doing something more productive than debating dragon ball characters." Wes smiles at Kurt.

"Gohan was such a great character but he grew up to be such a loser." David cries.

"Gohan is the strongest person on that show." Jeff frowns.

"Guys not now." Nick rolls his eyes. "And Goku is obviously the strongest person on that show."

"How many times did he die Nick?" Jeff questions him.

"This is coming from a person who's favorite character is Krillin." Nick scoffs. "Goku tries to save everyone. Krillin knows he's gonna die, why does he even try?"

"How are we together?" Jeff shakes his head. Nick laughs before leaning in to give Jeff a soft kiss. "Oh yeah that's why."

"Nick, I thought you were on my side." David whines. "Why are you kissing the enemy?"

"Sorry man, Jeff comes before Dragon Ball." Nick shrugs.

"Kurt please tell me you watch Dragon Ball." David begs him. Kurt snickers.

"Well I kind of agree that when Gohan grew up he became kind of lame, but he's still a pretty solid character. And Goku, I've always felt was the strongest. And I love Krillin, he's the strongest human and extremely brave." Kurt says and the other boys look a little surprised. "What? I like stuff besides musicals and fashion."

"Dude, give me your number. We are going to have plenty of marathons and arguments together." David says taking out his own phone and reaching for Kurt's.

"Okay, now that you've got that out of your system," Wes glares at David who ignores him, "lets get to work."

"How are you with the English assignment?" Blaine asks.

"I finished the book but I'm still working on the essay." Kurt tells him.

"Well finish that now. It's only 4 pages and you will be caught up with English." Wes instructs. "What about math homework?"

"I've missed so many assignments from the workbook, that may be hard to catch up on." Kurt admits.

"So I know I'm your partner in math..." Blaine trails off.

"But he's fired now, so I'm your partner now." Wes says. "Say bye to Blaine."

"Bye Blaine." Kurt tries not to laugh.

"Bye Kurt, sorry I'm not good at algebra." Blaine smirks.

"Better than me." Kurt tries to make him feel a little better.

"True." Blaine nods.

"Hey, you were supposed to disagree with me." Kurt frowns playfully.

"Why would I lie to you?" Kurt nudges him.

"Meanie." Blaine chuckles at him.

"I'm still your best friend." Blaine says.

"That's what you think." Kurt makes a show out of scooting closer to Wes and he's pleasantly surprised that Wes plays along and puts his arm around him.

"Okay bestie Kurt, lets finish your essay." Wes says. Blaine pouts.

"You're better than me in math Kurt. Now be my friend again." Blaine says. Kurt giggles and scoots back.

"Sorry Wes." Wes just shrugs.

"I have David, don't worry about me." Wes says.

"Hey but I wanted Kurt." David jokes.

"We all want Kurt, but we all know who already has Kurt." Jeff wriggles his eyebrows. This comment goes unheard by Kurt and Blaine who are whispering and smiling to each other while Kurt does his essay. The rest of the group smiles at them.

"How long before they realize what we see right now?" Nick asks.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Blaine has something up his sleeve already." Wes says.

"Kurt's a little too closed off though, don't you think." Jeff quietly brings up.

"He's beginning to trust us more." David says. "But he trusts Blaine the most."

"And that doesn't mean they can't be together either. They'll just keep learning new things about each other." Nick says.

"Another relationship to watch begin. What a wonderful sight." David sighs dreamily.

"I think you're a little too invested David." Wes says.

"Who wouldn't be? I can tell it's gonna be special." David smiles. None of them, at the time, had any idea how right David would be.

* * *

 **So yeah a lot happened in this chapter. Blaine is already seeing through Kurt's lies. What do you think of their relationship development so far? What do you think of Kurt's friendship with all the others? What do you think of Kurt's mom? What do you think about the characters individually. What do you think of this chapter as a whole? Let me know ANY thoughts you have with a review.**

 **Like always thank you for reading!**

 **Until next time! xx**


	5. Author's Note! Next Chap in a few days

Hey guys. I'm so sorry for the super long length of time I haven't posted. I was dealing with a lot of personal problems and didn't have the energy to write anything. Plus my laptop is crap. But I got the energy back and I have a super long chapter for you (it's 14 pages long on my laptop and I might add to it.) I will post it as soon as I get wifi back in my house. This is my phone wifi and I'm not even supposed to be using it.

Anyway...In like 2 days the next chapter should be up. I promise.

Hint for the chapter (ignore this if you don't want a hint) : we learn ALOT about Elizabeth. Tons of stories from the past. Get ready.

Until next time! xx

-Shaina


	6. Elizabeth's Downfall

**A/N: It's been so long. I'm so sorry for taking forever. But I'm back! Hope you are still up to reading this story. Now this chapter doesn't continue where the last one ended but it's an important chapter. We kinda get into what's going on in Kurt's mothers head. So this chapter is all her. (PLUS BURT AND YOUNG KURT) I really really hope you enjoy. I am terrified to post this because Elizabeth is such a complex person (and she's terrible) but i wanted everyone to see how she got to this point.I think I'll just leave it at that.**

 **Everything after the 3 dots are flashbacks.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Warning(s): Swearing, child abuse, violence**

* * *

Elizabeth Hummel came home from work completely drained. She never pictured her life would turn out like this. She wasn't supposed to hate her life. She wasn't supposed to be a nobody, wasting her time working as a bartender to provide for herself and a son that she never truly wanted. She was supposed to be more than this. When did things get so turned around?

...

 **Age 13**

"I know you're upset but second is not bad at all sweetheart." Mother said. Elizabeth frowned.

"Second is not winning. I want to be the best." She huffed. Her mother laughed.

"Sweetie your voice is amazing. But you know there are other people out there who want to be the best too." Her mother said.

"But I was better. Wasn't I?" She asked, her mother sighed.

"Of course to me you were. But to the other people maybe just not good enough. You'll win next time, don't overthink it." Her mother said trying to comfort her but it wasn't helpful. The only thing that stuck was that she wasn't good enough to the other people.

* * *

 **Age 16**

"They make fun of my voice all the time mother. Why can't they see what I see?" Elizabeth sulked.

"Don't bother with people like that dear. Focus on yourself and only yourself." Her mother said.

"But why doesn't everybody get me?" She wondered.

"You're never going to have everyone on your side Liz." Her mother said honestly.

"How am I going to be anything if people don't get me?" She exclaimed.

"Honey you do come on a little strong sometimes. Maybe tone the crazy down a little." Her father said jokingly but Elizabeth took it personally.

"Tone the crazy down? I knew you two didn't believe in me!" She said angrily. That argument ended quickly but never left her mind. She just wanted to be the best, she was not crazy.

* * *

 **Age 20**

"First audition today, can you believe it?" Elizabeth smiled. "This is going to be the day I remember forever. My first part, which will only lead to more parts, and fame."

"Don't you have a date today with that boy from your school. Bob?" Her mother asked, basically ignoring everything her daughter had just said.

"His name is Burt and I'm going to meet him at the restaurant after my audition." Elizabeth told her.

"You've been seeing a lot of him lately. When are you going to bring him to the house so your father and I can meet him?" Her mother asked her.

"I like him mother. You never like any guy I'm with." Elizabeth rolled her eyes and continued to get ready for her audition.

"None of the boys your have brought home were good to settle down with. Who are you going to have a kid with? That boy you were dating a year ago dropped out of college to pursue a career in music. He's not going to get anywhere with that." Elizabeth glared at her mother.

"I'm pursuing a career in music mother." She said.

"We both know the music industry is a fickle business dear. You need to be prepared now about the possibility that you might not be what they are looking for. You need to have options." Her mother said gently, but Elizabeth didn't hear it like that. All she heard was 'They aren't looking for you.'

"Why don't you believe in my talent Mother?" Elizabeth cried. She couldn't be the only one to have faith in herself. She always felt like the whole world was against her, even the people she loved the most.

"You know _I_ believe in you honey. I always have. I just worry about you sometimes. You don't react well to criticism or things not going your way." Her mother said. Elizabeth couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"How do you know this won't go how I want it to go?" She challenged her.

"Honey are you listening to me? I just want you to think of the possibility of things not going well. Remember the talent show you came in second? You never did another after that. Remember when people were making fun of your singing at school? You just stopped singing at school. Your friend, Mickey, told us you dropped out of glee after that." Her mother said, "Lizzy you quit the moment you lose or whenever people don't like you."

"Well this is going to be different. They are going to love me." Elizabeth didn't understand what her mother was getting at. This time was different. This was her life changing moment.

"I believe in you. But on the chance that it doesn't go as well as planned. I don't want you to get discouraged. A dream like yours with talent like yours should never be given up on. And do you know that only person who can destroy a dream?"

"Casting directors?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yourself." Her mother said. "Good luck with your audition. Bring your boyfriend over to meet us tomorrow night." Elizabeth rolled her eyes and nodded before leaving the house. Today was her day.

* * *

 **Age 22**

"I can't believe we just got married." Burt sighed in contentment.

"I'm surprised my parents didn't try to ruin the wedding." Elizabeth laughed. They were in a taxi headed to the airport. They were going to New York for their honeymoon. They didn't have much money for a honeymoon, so New York was perfect. Away from family and friends, and still kind of affordable.

"I hope they start to like me at some point." Burt told her. Elizabeth knew they would most likely never like Burt. He barely makes enough money and didn't study anything they would approve of. No matter how charming and amazing he is, they just didn't see the appeal.

"They barely like me." She joked. Burt gave her a small worried glance and took her hand in his.

"You know that's not true. They love you. They care so much about your future. They just want to know that you'll be taken care of." Burt defended her parents.

"I guess so. I just feel like they don't trust me with my own life. Most parents would be proud to have an ambitious child." She complained.

"Hey, lets not think about them right now." Burt smiled at her, " Tonight is about us right? We just got married. We get to start our life together." Burt's happiness was contagious.

"Yeah we do, and we get to start it in my favorite city." She smiled.

"When is your audition?" He asked her.

"The day before we leave. I hope that's okay." She bit her lip. He smiled and moved in closer to kiss her.

"I would never get in the way of your dream Lizzy. I love and believe in you." He promised. She couldn't believe she found someone as caring and supportive as Burt. No way would she let him slip away.

They had an amazing honeymoon in New York and Elizabeth fell in love with the place. Well, until her audition. Elizabeth wanted to be on Broadway. She wanted so badly to sing and show everyone what she was made of. So she auditioned for a lead role in an off Broadway play. She practiced for a long time and she just knew she would get it.

And she did. Kind of. It was a call back but she had called her parents and immediately told them she got the part.

"That's amazing honey. We knew you could do it." Her dad smiled. Her mom nodded in agreement.

"It was only a matter of time until someone noticed your talent." She said. Elizabeth was so confident she had the role in the bag, she didn't even think that anything could go wrong.

That was until she got a call that they gave the part to someone else.

"Lizzy, there are going to be other roles." Burt tried to comfort her but to no avail.

"I'm never going to be chosen for anything Burt. I'm always runner up, not good enough, too much, or crazy. Why am I never enough?" She cried. Burt kissed her forehead gently.

"You're always enough to me. Soon one day, as long as you keep trying, someone else will realize how wonderful you are." And even though she smiled and thanked him for believing in her, those words weren't enough for her.

* * *

 **Age 23**

"A-are you sure?" Burt asked sounding a little taken aback.

"My period never came and I was feeling a little weird lately. I brought a few pregnancy tests and they all came up positive." Elizabeth explained to Burt. She couldn't seem to gauge his reaction. "I made an appointment with the doctor." She added when he didn't respond.

"Okay then we should go to the doctor and get you checked out." Burt said. His hands were shaking as he went to grab his wallet and keys.

Now they had talked about having kids and Elizabeth had always been on board with the idea, but she had planned to be successful. She had planned to want the kid.

They were quiet as they waited for the doctor to see them. Elizabeth hoped there was some way those tests were wrong. They just had to be.

An hour later they were on their way home, feeling a little numb. They hadn't spoken in a long time. Both not knowing what the other was thinking, and scared to know what they were thinking

"So what are we going to do?" Burt asked her when they made it home.

"What do you think we should do? We said we wanted kids right?" She questioned him. Burt took her hands.

"I'd never want to take such a big step in our relationship without making sure you're okay with it. It's your body Liz. And we're still young." Burt shrugged. "All that matters to me is that you're happy. If you don't want to have a baby, we don't have to. We could go back to New York or something and get you another audition." The mention of auditions and New York scared her way more than it did when she found out she was pregnant. The upside to having a kid was that she would have a loving supportive family. That would be safe. No one to tell her that they weren't looking for her, that they found someone else, or that she wasn't enough. That hurt too much. She didn't want to be hurt again.

"I want to have this baby." She told him. Burt seemed so surprised but Elizabeth could tell that he was happier than she had ever seen him.

* * *

 **Age 24**

"Here's your baby. Do you two have a name for him yet?" The doctor asked as he gently gave Elizabeth the tiny boy.

"We haven't decided yet." Elizabeth said softly, not wanting to scare her son. _Holy crap I have a son now. I don't know how to feel about this._

"That's fine. You two can discuss it while I step out for a moment. I'll be back to check on you." The doctor said kindly, before stepping out.

"What about that kid from that musical you've been watching for the last 9 months?" Burt asked.

"Sound of Music? Are you talking about Kurt Von Trapp?" She asked. He smiled and nodded. "Kurt Hummel." Burt said, "Sounds a lot better than Burt Jr." She laughed.

"I like that he'll have part of your name." She said. Just then, the baby started getting fussy. She tried rocking him but it wasn't helping much.

"Let me hold him?" Burt asked. She handed him over slowly. Burt cradled him and looked at him with such adoration. "Hey Kurt. I'm your dad, and that's you mom. We love you very much." Kurt was still fussy so Burt stood up and rocked him around gently.

"What's going to be his middle name?" She asked him.

"How about Eli? So he has a little bit of you and a little bit of me in his name." Burt said, she smiled tiredly.

"Sounds great. Now that we have the name figured out, maybe we can figure out how to make him stop crying." She basically whined. Burt just continued rocking him. He knew his wife was ridiculously tired. So he started humming a song to him.

" _You are the sunshine of my life. That's why I'll always be around. You are the apple of my eye. Forever you'll stay in my heart._ " Burt sang quietly. Elizabeth couldn't help but smile. Maybe having this kid wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

 **Age 29**

"I think we need to take Kurt out of this class. Everyday he comes home crying, wanting to leave school." Burt says sounding worried.

"Burt, we both know Kurt is sensitive. Remember when we took Kurt out of his playgroup for the same reason?" Elizabeth mentioned.

"Kids are picking on him and calling him names. They are pushing him down. He has cuts on his knees and elbows. Someone's kid is going to really hurt him one day." Burt didn't understand why she wasn't concerned like he was.

"Kurt needs to toughen up. He'll learn to defend himself eventually and people will leave him alone." She says simply. Burt couldn't help but sigh.

"So we let him continued to be bullied?" He asked incredulously.

"Burt, Kurt plays with dolls. Kurt plays with tea sets. Kurt doesn't like getting his clothes dirty. He wanted sensible heels for his birthday. Don't you see anything wrong with that?" She asked him.

"Nothing is wrong with our son. He has different interests than other boys his age, so what? Doesn't make it okay for him to be teased." Burt shot back.

"You know why he's bullied? Because you tell him it's okay to wear whatever he wants to school. He wore a freakin' tutu one day. You let him play with his little girly dolls and you don't think it's weird that he prefers playing with the girls." Elizabeth didn't see how Burt could let that behavior slide.

"Because it's not weird! He's a kid of god sake! No matter what he likes we need to love and support him." He basically shouted.

"Are you and Mommy fighting?" They both jump from the sound of Kurt's sleepy voice.

"No buddy everything is fine I promise." Burt smiled at him. "You want some snack bud?"

"Yes!" Kurt clapped happily. "And Peter Pan!" Burt groans in exaggeration.

"Whaaaat? Peter Pan again? How many times have we seen that movie?" Burt asks.

"A bagillion Daddy! Will you be Tinkerbell again?" Burt couldn't say no to his son's pouting face.

"Of course, why don't you go get the glitter and I'll be in the living room in a little bit." Burt told him and Kurt ran off in search of glitter.

"Listen, I've had a hard day at work so I really don't want to continue this fight." Elizabeth said tiredly. Burt looked at his wife sadly. They've been at each others throats lately.

"If you hate the job so much you should quit Liz. That's not even what you want to do." They've had this conversation before.

"Burt-" He cut her off.

"Liz this is the perfect opportunity to pursue your dreams. We could move to New York. You love it there. Kurt's not fond of Ohio, you aren't fond of your job, and I'll be happy as long as my family is happy." Burt said softly. The idea sounded so perfect but Elizabeth feared getting rejected again. She couldn't go back yet. It was safe here.

"Burt I already told you, I don't want to move. Everything will be fine here." She said, and she tried to believe her own words.

"Lizzy just consider it. I'm doing this for us, for our family. It's been five years." He said seriously, "Do you really think I haven't noticed how unhappy you are? And how you like to take it out on me, or our own son. It doesn't have to be this way Liz. I'm worried that something is wrong and you aren't telling me about it." She frowned at him.

"Nothing is wrong. What are you trying to say?" She spat. Burt put his hands up in defense.

"Liz I'm just saying that you've been acting strange for a while now-"

"You think I'm crazy." She whispered, looking hurt. Memories of conversations with her parents came to the front of her mind. They thought she was crazy too.

"No, Liz I don't" He said taking her hands and holding them. "Stop putting words in my mouth. I just want you to know you can tell me anything."

"There is nothing to tell." Her voice was void of emotion. She could tell that scared Burt but she didn't care. Her husband, the one person she thought was on her side, thought she was crazy. "I'm going to go out for a bit." She said as she pulled away from him, grabbed some things and headed out.

* * *

 **Age 31**

"Where have you been? You didn't answer your phone and its after 3. You had our son cry himself to sleep because he thought you weren't coming home." Burt whisper shouted. "You can't keep doing these things Lizzy."

"Why can't I do what I want? I thought you wanted me to be happy?" She asked, sounding offended.

"Lizzy you're acting like a child. You do this all the time now. It's not good for you and it's not good for Kurt." Burt rose his voice a little. He didn't want to wake Kurt, but he was just so angry.

"What does Kurt have to do with anything?" She asked. Burt looked at her like she had lost her mind.

"What do you mean? He's our son dammit! He comes home and asks about you. He cries because you can't read that part in his favorite book. He has me make warm milk for him because you aren't there to make it for him." He growled angrily. They've had conversations like this before but never this heated. It was scary to Elizabeth. It felt like everything was falling apart and she didn't know why.

"I NEVER ASKED FOR HIM!" She yelled. "I never asked for a needy little child. We both know I can't take care of him. We both know I'm not as good a parent as you." Burt felt his eyes burning.

"We had conversations Liz. We talked about having children. I asked you if you even wanted to have a baby when you found out you were pregnant." Burt reminded her. "What the hell happened?"

"I just did what was safe. I thought I would love it. I-I thought it was the right choice." She cried.

"I don't understand, I don't get how you don't want to be there for him. I don't get it. You've done it before. Kurt loves you so much. I know you love him too. Even with all the little things you say about him, I know you love him." Burt tried to convince himself that everything would be fine and they would find a way to work this out. But he knew that his family was breaking. "Please just try. For me." He pleaded. She looked away, tears running down her cheek and nodded. He pulled her into a tight hug, and they both just felt empty.

* * *

 **Age 32**

"Kurt do you want to tell us why we had to come pick you up from school today?" Elizabeth asked her son while they were driving home.

"Because I was crying." Kurt sniffled.

"What happened buddy? Someone was bothering you again?" Burt asked looking at his son in the mirror.

"They called me some names and pushed me on the floor. Simon doesn't want to be my friend anymore." Kurt sobbed. Burt's heart broke for his son, he didn't understand why all these kids were so terrible to Kurt.

"Why doesn't Simon want to be friends anymore?" Burt asked curiously. Simon was the only boy that Kurt was friends with.

"Because the other boys told him I was a fag, I don't know what that means Daddy. When they told him that he said he's not my friend anymore." Burt was stunned. He had no words. How and why did 8 or 9 year old children know that word and why were they calling his son that?

"The word doesn't matter Kurt because you don't like boys. If they call you that again just say it back." Elizabeth said, not even looking back at their crying son. Burt held in everything he wanted to say until they were back home.

Elizabeth watched as Burt took their son aside to talk to him. She didn't understand why Burt was making this issue so much bigger than it was.

"Now, buddy can you tell me why the other boys were making fun of you?" Burt asked, now that Kurt had calmed down.

"I was playing with Simon and Ana. We acting like a family. I was the mom, Simon was the dad, and Ana was the baby." Kurt said softly and Burt could tell where this was going.

"Did they make fun of you for being the mom?" Burt asked. Kurt nodded.

"And then they all said I was nasty because I kissed Simon on the cheek. I was just doing what you and mommy do in the morning." Kurt started tearing up again. "That's when they called me that word."

"Listen buddy," Burt leaned in close, "That word is a bad word. If any one ever says it to you again, tell your teacher okay?" Kurt nodded. "And you should never call anyone that name either."

"Because it's bad." Kurt said. Burt ruffled his hair.

"Exactly." Burt said. "Now remember what you asked me when we were watching Cinderella?"

"If a boy could be like Cinderella and marry a prince?" Kurt asked.

"What did I tell you?" Burt asked him.

"That boys and girls can marry who ever they want. Love is powerful." Kurt told him. Burt smiled at his son.

"Kurt if you ever want to marry a boy, always know that it's fine. Now, everyone isn't going to think that it's okay, but you shouldn't listen to what they think. When those kids call you that word, they probably don't really understand what it means. They don't know how bad that word is." Burt said, "All I want you to know that no matter who you choose to love, don't let anyone bring you down because of it." Kurt nodded.

"What does the word mean?" He asked in a small voice.

"It's a bad and insulting word people use to describe a boy who likes other boys." Burt said carefully. Kurt nodded.

"Will you and mommy love me even if I am that bad word?" Kurt asked nervously, Burt immediately engulfed his son in a hug.

"You aren't that word believe me. That word shouldn't be used to described anyone. Who every you love when you are older Kurt, no matter who they are or their gender, I will love you. Do you understand that?" Kurt nodded and held onto his dad tightly. They stayed like that for a while before Burt suggested Kurt start on his homework.

Burt then headed to his and Lizzy's bedroom with something on his mind. Something that has been on his mind for a while.

"Why would you think it was okay to tell Kurt to call people that word?" He asked as soon as he got in the room.

"Because then they'll stop bothering him maybe." She said like it was obvious. Burt couldn't believe her.

"Lizzy, I just can't do this anymore." Burt shook his head. She looked at him strangely.

"Do what?" She asked.

"I want a divorce, I can't be with you if this is the kind of stuff you're going to be telling our son for the rest of his life." Burt said. Elizabeth could tell it pained him to say it. But it hurt even more hearing it.

"Are you serious right now?" She said, her eyes filling up with tears. "You're the one who said I could do this family thing. I'm trying Burt!"

"Liz can you honestly say you love Kurt? Can you say it? Because you rarely do." Burt told her. He couldn't remember the last time she had even showed Kurt affection. "You always have something negative to say about him. You should be trying to build him up, not saying he's too soft or too girly. He's perfect the way he is and do you know why? Because he's our son, and no matter what we love him!We love him unconditionally."

"I love Kurt. I do, I just want him to have more of a backbone." She tried to get Burt to understand but he just shook his head.

"He's 8 years old and he's probably gay-" She cut him off.

"Our son is not gay!" She screamed. She had always tried to help her son be perfect. She tried to make sure he wasn't so dainty and weak. She knew she had already failed but she didn't want to admit it. Burt got through to Kurt better than she did, but Burt didn't have the same kind of wishes she had for Kurt.

"What if he is? What if he brings home a boy one day? He just asked me if he would still loved him if he liked boys. I will love Kurt no matter what. He's being bullied about his sexuality before he even knows what that really is. None of those kids know yet. You're trying to teach him to bully them back. You're trying to tell him what he is not. I can't have you do that anymore. I'm done trying to make this work. Elizabeth I can't be with you anymore. You are not the woman I fell in love with." Burt said honestly. Elizabeth was quiet. She didn't know what to say.

"Okay, fine. It's over then." She mumbled.

"I want to wait until after Kurt's birthday to finalize it. We need to figure out how we are going to tell him." Burt said, and she nodded. "I'm sorry Liz."

"I'm going to go out for a bit." She said shortly, and left the room. Burt sat down on his bed and cried into his hands. Neither of them expected things to end this way.

* * *

 **Age 33**

"I think I'll be okay with you keeping Kurt." Elizabeth whispered, looking out the window of their bedroom. All the things she was taking to her new house was already in her car. She was ready to leave but she felt lost. She didn't know what to do with herself.

"It's for the best." He said simply, not even looking her in the eye. He had trouble doing that lately, she noticed. "You know you don't have to leave."

"We're divorced. Why would I stay?" She asked him softly. He shrugged. The word 'divorce' still hurt, but they both weren't happy together like they were before.

"Well just know you can come back and visit Kurt. He'll want that." Burt told her. She nodded.

"I'll think about it." She responded. He turned out the light and got into bed. "I'll go say goodbye to him right now." Burt merely nodded. She walked out of the bedroom quietly.

Walking into Kurt's room she noticed he was already fast asleep. She looked at him from the doorway. She knew being with Burt was the best choice for Kurt. But she couldn't help but think that the divorce was his fault. She didn't ask to have this kid. She wished she hadn't.

For some reason she couldn't get the idea of running off with Kurt out of her mind. Why the hell would you want to be responsible for something you don't even want? Maybe it'll prove Burt wrong, that she can do this mother thing, and make Kurt less of a softy. Maybe it'll stop her from feeling like everything was her fault. Maybe it'll make her stop regretting having him and maybe even start to truly love Kurt.

Before she even realized the extent of what she was doing, Kurt was in her arms, still asleep, and they were headed out the door. She put him in the car, along with all the rest of her stuff. She got in the car, drove off, and didn't look back.

* * *

 **Age 34**

She had just recently gotten fired from her job. She didn't have much money to buy enough food for both her and Kurt. Things had been strained between her and Kurt before this. Everyday he couldn't help but ask 'Why had she taken him away from dad?' or 'Why don't they just go back home.' She would always just send him to his room or yell at him until he was in tears. Today was much worse than any of those times. She didn't know what came over her. But truthfully it's not the first time she thought of doing it.

"Mom? What's for breakfast?" A 10 year old Kurt asked.

"Peanut butter on toast." She answered not looking up from her phone. She was searching for another job and not having much luck.

"But mom, I'm allergic to nuts." Kurt reminded her. When she didn't say anything he kept talking. "Mommy I can't eat this remember!"

"We have nothing else. Would you just quit your whining already?" She yelled, slamming her phone down on the table. This caused Kurt to jump in fear.

"I'm s-sorry m-m-mommy." Kurt's lower lip trembled and she rolled her eyes.

"Would you stop crying already!" She groaned. Kurt wiped his eyes rapidly but couldn't contain his sobs.

"I'm s-so-sorry m-mommy! I-I'm just hu-hungry!" Kurt cried louder and Elizabeth had enough. She smacked him hard against his face and he stumbled backwards and fell to the floor. She looked at him and her hand with wide eyes. _What did I just do?_

"Oh my gosh. Kurt? Honey, are you okay?" She kneels next to him and softly touches his cheek.

"That hurt mommy." Kurt whimpered. She hugged him close, something she hadn't done in a while.

"I'm so sorry honey...I-I don't know what happened. I promise it wont happen again." She said kissing his forehead softly. She was terrified of what just happened but for some reason it felt good. It felt like he deserved it. She wasn't supposed to want to hit her own child.

The following week he would constantly annoy her to the point where she punch him in his nose hard enough to make it bleed. She didn't feel sorry.

A few days after that he would accompany her to New York for an audition, sporting a black eye he received on his birthday.

"If I get this part, we'll move here. Get a nice big house, with a yard and a pool." Elizabeth listed off excitedly. Kurt smiled happily at her. Just two days ago she had given him a black eye. He didn't remember what he did wrong, but it was still very prominent on his face. She just told him to blame it on bullies at school if he was asked about it.

"You're going to be amazing mommy." An 11 year old Kurt said. She smiled at him in a way she hadn't done in years.

"I am aren't I?" She said confidently. To be truthful she was extremely nervous. She was so against ever going back to New York but she was trying to prove herself now. She was not a quitter, not anymore.

"Not now sweetie, I have to get ready. Just sit in the audience and wait, okay?" She said to Kurt when they made it to the theater.

"Elizabeth Hummel?" One of the people in the front called. She walked on the stage and began acting out a scene. She had practiced for a while now. She knew her lines and the song perfectly. She was going to do just fine.

"We'll be in touch." One of the people in the front said. She couldn't help be feel hopeful at that and left the stage. She walked down the aisle to her son who was talking to some lady. For some reason, the lady looked worried about him. Elizabeth knew Kurt wouldn't tell anyone that she hit him, but she was paranoid. She knew she would never get a part if anyone found that out about her. She hurried up to her son, with her brows furrowed, when the lady walked away.

"What did I tell you about talking to strangers?" She scolded him. She grabbed his shoulder and steered him out of the theater.

They stayed in New York for a couple more days. They enjoyed the sights and just how different it was from Ohio. That was until Elizabeth got a call one morning.

"Hello is this Elizabeth Hummel?" The person asked.

"Yes this is she." She responded. She crossed her fingers. Today had to be the day everything worked out for her.

"I'm sorry to inform you that we're giving the part to someone else." They said. Elizabeth felt her heart break into a million pieces. This was not what was supposed to happen.

"Oh..okay. I understand." She sniffled. "Thank you for considering. Have a good day." She ended the call, threw her phone down, and screamed in agony.

"Mommy? You didn't get the part?" She swiftly turns to her son and looks at him hard. It had to be because of that lady he talked to. It had to be. She had done so well and he fucked it up for her.

"Start packing! It's all your fault! I knew you would mess this up for me!" She screamed and swung a hand at him. He managed to avoid the hand and run into the bathroom. She sunk down to the floor and cried harder than she had in a while. That was the last time she was going to let someone tell her she wasn't good enough for the part. She was done.

They took a plane back to Ohio. The ride was mostly silent.

"We're never going back Kurt. New York isn't for us." She said while they were taking off. Her dream was officially dead.

...

 **Present Time**

Every problem she had since Kurt had been born was because of him. He had turned out to be everything that she tried to change. She had to take him out of school because everyone found out he was a fag. He joined a singing group in his new school. He's fucking around with boys in his school obviously. She had to let him know that he was nothing. That there was no way he would have a life better than she did. He didn't deserve it. He ruined it all for her.

At one point in time, before he had transferred schools, she knew she had gotten to him. She knew that Kurt had given up on his own life. It felt like she finally had revenge. It felt good. But ever since she offhandedly agreed to let him transferred schools, things have changed.

She noticed how Kurt had started to try again. He was doing well in school, making friends, seeming happy. That was not what she wanted. So any chance she got, she tried to ruin his happiness like he did to her.

It's only fair right?

* * *

 **What did you think? Thoughts, reactions, questions? Please leave any of those in the reviews :)**

 **Next chapter we move forward from what happened in the chapter before. We will focus a lot on Kurt and Blaine!**

 **As always thank you for reading my story!**

 **Until next time! xx**


	7. Love Story

**A/N: Get ready for some super fluffy cotton candy sweetness. There's singing and dancing and KLAINE. This is actually the perfect Valentine's day present. (For me it's tomorrow but if it's Valentine's Day when you read this then HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY) I really hope you enjoy this chapter. I love it and I hope you do too. We focus on Blaine's POV first then Cooper's (yay Cooper!) and of course back to Kurt!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Warning(s): small scene with implied violence and ridiculous amounts of singing**

* * *

"Hey there early bird." Blaine says when he walks inside the classroom and sees Kurt. He feels warm inside when Kurt smiles at him.

"Hey. I'm surprised you're here before Wes." Kurt commented. Blaine took a seat next to him.

"Disappointed?" Blaine asked. Kurt's eyes widened comically.

"W-what? No! Never!" Kurt exclaimed and cringed as he did so. Blaine watched as Kurt cleared his throat and spoke again with a shy look on his face. "I like spending time with you."

Blaine was just teasing him, he hadn't expected such an honest answer from Kurt. It was getting harder and harder to hide the fact that he had a huge crush on Kurt. Kurt was amazing. He was sweet, adorable, funny, and smart. But Blaine got a weird feeling from him sometimes. Kurt was pretty mysterious and vague most of the time. Especially about personal things. It should make him want to back off, but Blaine just wanted to learn more about him.

"I like spending time with you too. Which is sort of the reason why I came so early." Blaine admitted. He was going to invite Kurt to his house to meet his brother Cooper. Blaine tells Cooper everything and Cooper had asked to meet the boy Blaine was eventually going to ask to be his boyfriend.

"You wanted to spend time with me?" Kurt asked as if he was surprised. Blaine didn't know why he would be so surprised. But he understood because Kurt hasn't had any real friends in such a long time.

"Of course. I was going to ask if you wanted to come to my house for a while after school? Since there is no Warblers practice you can still make it home on time. My brother will drive you home." Blaine tried not to sound too eager. He just wanted to spend time with Kurt in a more relaxed setting. Maybe that way Kurt will open up to him a bit more.

"Oh, uh okay. I can be home a little later today anyway." Kurt said with a nervous smile. "But wont your parents mind?"

"They are an a little vacation right now, so it's just me and my brother." Blaine told him. Kurt nodded.

"Oh okay. Well then I would love to hang out with you later." Kurt gave him a real smile this time and Blaine felt his heart doing back flips. _Maybe he does like me back._

"Blaine?" They both turn to the doorway to see Wes walking inside. "You never come early."

"What? Of course I do." Blaine glares at his friend. Wes looks from Kurt and back to Blaine. He gives Blaine a look as if to ask 'have you made a move yet?'. Blaine just shakes his head.

"Kurt, how did you do with the homework last night?" Wes takes a seat on the other side of Kurt.

"Fine I think. Can you check my math homework though? I don't think I did too well on that one." Kurt said as he opened his bag to take out his math notebook.

"You always say that. You've gotten much better, trust me." Wes said, checking Kurt's homework anyway. "See most of the answers are right."

"Wesley that's not an A though." Kurt said teasingly. That surprised Blaine. He hadn't noticed how close they had gotten.

"Kurty it's at least a B." Wes shoots back nudging Kurt playfully.

"How many times do I have to tell you. That doesn't work because my actual name is Kurt." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh don't be such a baby." Wes laughed. "Here let me show you how to do these problems." Blaine couldn't help but feel a little jealous for some reason. He felt as if there was an understanding between Wes and Kurt that he didn't have with Kurt.

* * *

Later that day Wes approached Blaine while Kurt had gone to get lunch.

"Okay, what's wrong with you? Why have you been looking at me so weirdly every time I'm talking to Kurt?" Wes asked him. Blaine didn't even know he was looking at him strangely. He wasn't openly trying to show his jealousy.

"It's nothing." Blaine evaded. Wes didn't back off.

"Blaine, what wrong? Seriously." Blaine sighed.

"I feel like you know more about Kurt than I do. He seems so...at ease with you. And even though I've known him for longer he's still a little nervous around me. I don't want to make him nervous." Blaine rambled on. The more he spoke the more Wes' smirk grew. Blaine frowned at that. "What?"

"You're such an idiot." Wes chuckled. "I'm almost positive that's because he likes you. He's probably trying to either keep it from you or find a way to tell you. He's protecting himself. Besides he's only nervous when you flirt with him or ask him anything personal, which you do more than you probably know you do. He's more comfortable around you than anyone."

"How do you know that?" Blaine asked. Wes rolled his eyes.

"Watch. Kurt is going to come over here and sit right next to you while he eats his lunch, like he always does. He's going to talk to you and only you until someone else talks to him. He's going to lean closer to you while he talks to someone else. You know why?" Wes says all of this knowingly.

"Why?" Blaine humors him.

"Because you make him feel safe. Whatever secret he's keeping deep inside of him, that makes him so reserved and aloof, you pull him away from wallowing in those feelings Blaine. It's not anything he told me that made me think that. You can see the difference from when he's by himself and when he's around you." Wes said and then looked towards the lunch line. Blaine followed his line of sight and found that Kurt was looking at him. Kurt gave him a tiny smile along with a cute embarrassed wave, before looking away.

"So...I guess I was overreacting." Blaine sighed.

"You need to stop worrying so much and just ask him out man. He likes you." Wes said. It was obvious to everyone that Kurt and Blaine had a special kind of connection.

"I'm just trying to get to know him a little better first. So I invited him to my house to meet Cooper." Blaine told him.

"Okay." Wes said and looked a little unsure before speaking again. "Just don't get frustrated if he doesn't open up much more with you. Not everyone is as open as you."

"Hey." Blaine frowned.

"That's not a bad thing Blaine. You where your heart on your sleeve. That's probably why Kurt likes you in the first place. But he's not like you in that way. He probably hasn't come to terms with whatever he went through or is going through. Give him time." Wes advised with a reassuring smile, then looked over to Kurt who was walking back to the table.

As Wes had said, Kurt sat next to Blaine and ate his lunch.

"Why aren't you eating?" Kurt asked Blaine once again proving Wes was right.

"Oh I wasn't feeling too hungry." Blaine told him. Kurt frowned at him as if he were worried about him.

"Did you eat breakfast?" Kurt asked him.

"I didn't." Blaine responded. Kurt then cut his turkey sandwich in half and gave a piece to Blaine. He also opened his apple slices and put half on his tray and gave the rest to him. "Kurt this is your food, I can't take it." Blaine tried to decline Kurt's generous offer.

"It was, now it's ours. Eat, or I'm going to tell your brother you've been skipping meals." Kurt said with a sneaky smirk. Blaine wanted to kiss him. Instead, he ate the food Kurt gave him. He looked across the table and found that Wes was now joined by David and they were both grinning at him.

"So Kurt you're going to Blaine's tonight?" David asked.

"Yeah." Kurt said with a blush on his face. Blaine watched as Kurt, seemingly subconsciously moved closer to Blaine. So much closer that there shoulders where brushing. _How is Wes always right?_

"Well this weekend we're all going to hang out again at Blaine's place for a sleepover. We're going to watch movies, play games, and eat a bunch of junk food. Do you want to come?" David asked. Blaine scowled at him. He had wanted to ask Kurt that.

"Easy tiger." Wes whispered to Blaine. Blaine could tell he was amused at how he was acting.

"Oh, um I don't think I'm allowed to sleepover." Kurt said nervously, not making eye contact with anyone.  
"Why not?" David asked curiously. They all watch as Kurt basically shut down. No more smiling or joking around.

"I just can't." Kurt said simply. "I'm sorry." Blaine knew there had to be a reason but he was trying get better at just waiting for Kurt to tell him things. It was hard.

"That's okay maybe you can just come over for a little bit." Blaine suggested trying to diffuse the situation. Kurt looked at Blaine and shrugged.

"I'll try." There was an awkward silence, thankfully broken by Nick and Jeff joining them.

"Hey guys, where were you two?" Wes asked them.

"We probably don't want to know." David said wriggling his eyebrows.

"We had to finish a test." Nick said rolling his eyes.

"Anyway, we hear you're going to Blaine's house Kurt." Jeff smiled. "If you play Mario Kart Wii you should know I'm the best at that game. They call me King Jeffery."

"We don't call him King Jeffery." Wes whispers to Kurt making him giggle. "But he is pretty good."

"Only because he cheats." Blaine accused.

"It's called shortcuts Blaine. I'll teach you how to use them next time." Jeff reach over the table and pat Blaine on the head.

"I've never played Mario Kart." Kurt said. The boys all started at him, making him visibly uncomfortable. "I don't have gaming systems at home."

"So what do you do at home?" David questioned him unable to believe someone could live without video games. "How do you have fun? How could you not have video games?"

"I read a lot, watch design shows, and cook." Kurt said with a shrug.

"Well I'll introduce you to some of my favorites when we get to my house." Blaine said.

"I can't wait." Kurt smiled. Blaine couldn't wait either.

* * *

"So what's your brother like?" Kurt asked him. They had just gotten out of their final class of the day and now they were headed to the front of the school to meet Blaine's brother.

"He's great. Kind of annoying, kind of inappropriate, but overall just a great brother." Blaine told him, and smiled as he did. "He's helped me through so much."

"Sometimes I wish I had a brother or sister. Seems like it would be nice to have one." Kurt muses.

"You never know, maybe someday you will." Blaine said nudging Kurt a little. Kurt just gave him a tight smile.

"Where are we supposed to meet him?" Kurt asked, moving on from the subject. Blaine felt like banging his head on a wall. He always seemed to say something wrong. He didn't mean to make Kurt uncomfortable.

"Uh, outside I think." Blaine said and opened the front door, letting Kurt go through first. They headed for the parking lot and saw someone leaning against a fancy looking car.

"I guess handsomeness runs in the family." Kurt murmured dreamily, then blushed when Blaine looked at him with a smirk.

"You think I'm handsome?" Blaine teased. Kurt's cheeks grew even darker.

"Everyone thinks you're handsome." Kurt defended himself immediately, causing Blaine to laugh. "Blaaaaiiine. Don't embarrass me in front of your brother!"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll stop laughing at you." Blaine promised, then leaned in bravely and said, "Just for the record, I think you're handsome too." then walked up to his brother, leaving Kurt stunned for a second before following with extremely pink cheeks.

"Hey Coop." Blaine greeted his brother who gave him an unnecessary bear hug. "Please let go."

"Sorry Squirt, need to show the world how close the Anderson bros are." Cooper said squeezing Blaine and then letting go.

"I can't stand you sometimes." Blaine mumbled before gently reaching back and grabbing Kurt's hand. "Cooper this is my friend Kurt. Kurt this is my older brother Cooper."

"Nice to meet you Cooper." Kurt held out his hand but was immediately engulfed in a hug by Cooper.

"I'm so sorry Kurt." Blaine sighed, shaking his head at his annoying older brother.

"Kurt! I've heard I _so_ much about you! _SO MUCH!_ " Cooper emphasized much to Blaine's dismay. "Like you wouldn't believe the long and detailed conversations I've had with Blaine ab-"

"We get it! I sometimes talk about my close friends." Blaine grit through his teeth and pulled Kurt away from Cooper and let him into the backseat of the car. "I hate you." He whispered to Cooper.

"You'll thank me for this later." Cooper winked and got in the driver's seat. Blaine shook his head with and laughed to himself before getting into the car next to Kurt. This will certainly be an interesting day.

* * *

"So Kurt, Blaine tells me you can sing. Care to serenade us?" Cooper asked as they drove down the road.

"You don't have to Kurt." Blaine said quickly, trying to make Kurt as comfortable as possible.

"Oh um, maybe turn the radio on and I'll sing along with it." Kurt suggested. Cooper turned the radio on and the song playing was Fallin' For You. "I love this song!" As Kurt sang beautiful, Blaine couldn't help but notice this song was exactly the situation he was in with Kurt.

 _I don't know but I think I maybe_

 _Fallin' for you dropping so quickly_

 _Maybe I should keep this to myself_

 _Waiting 'til I know you better_

 _I am trying not to tell you_

 _But I want to_

 _I'm scared of what you'll say_

 _So I'm hiding what I'm feeling_

 _But I'm tired of holding this inside my head_

 _I've been spending all my time_

 _just thinking about you_

 _I don't know what to do_

 _I think I'm fallin' for you_

 _I've been waiting all my life and now I found you_

 _I don't know what to do_

 _I think I'm fallin' for you_

 _I'm fallin' for you._

Blaine caught Cooper's face in the mirror and he had a gigantic grin on his face, as if he knew something that Blaine didn't know.

"You really do have the voice of an angel. Blaine was right." Cooper commented. Kurt blushed and Blaine wished he didn't have a brother for a moment.

* * *

As soon as they made it to the Anderson household, Blaine gave Kurt a quick tour before introducing him to his impressive collection of video games.

"What do you want to play first?" He asked. Kurt looked at the collection once again.

"Let's play Mario Kart Wii." Kurt said. Blaine popped in the game, grabbed controllers for them both and turned on the tv.

"I'll have you know I'm pretty good at this. Not Jeff good, but pretty good." Blaine bragged. Kurt just smiled at him.

At the character menu Blaine chose Mario and Kurt chose Toad.

"Why Toad?" Blaine looked at Kurt.

"He's adorable. Just look at his cute little mushroom head and his little body!" Kurt cooed.

"You're so weird." Blaine laughed. "Mario is obviously the best driver. His name is in the title."

"Prove it." Kurt challenged him. Blaine went easy on Kurt at first and picked the easiest track, Luigi's Circuit.

"Okay so hold it horizontally, press and hold 2 to drive and you have to physically steer it. Press 1 if you need to reverse. For items use the control pad. If you want to throw an item in back of you press down and press up to throw it in front of you. Use 1 or B to drift but you have to turn the Wii-mote in the direction you want to drift. You got all that?" Blaine said before the race.

"It's called a wii-mote?" Was all Kurt asked.

"Yup."

"How clever."

Kurt turned out to be a very good racer once he got use to the controls and found a vehicle he liked. He was certainly better than Blaine was and even better than Jeff.

"You've beat me in almost every race." Blaine said stunned, then narrowed his eyes at Kurt who was looking at him innocently. "Were you lying about never playing this game?"

"Nope. I wasn't." Kurt swore but then smiled sheepishly, "But I _might_ have had Mario Kart double dash when I was younger. And I _might_ have been ridiculously good at it." Blaine groaned.

"Beat me at Rainbow Road and then I'll declare you champion of Mario Kart, which is Jeff's title." Blaine dared him. Rainbow Road was the hardest track of the entire game. No way Kurt would beat him.

"So I'll be King Kurt." Kurt said.

"Yes." Blaine nodded.

"Okay I will." Kurt said confidently. "If I fall at all it'll only be once."

"Yeah right. You have no idea how hard this one is."

"Watch me beat you by an entire lap."

"Okay now you're just being cocky."

"You don't believe in my skills"

"..."

"Get ready to eat my dust Anderson."

"Bring it on Hummel."

* * *

Kurt won.

Blaine had to call Jeff to tell he had been dethroned.

It was quite the moment and Kurt would probably never let him forget it.

* * *

"I told you I could beat you by an entire lap!" Kurt gloated. They were now in the kitchen getting something to snack on.

"But you fell twice! So you lost that part." Blaine pointed out. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Compared to the billions of times you fell that was nothing." Kurt retorted. Blaine laughed.

"Fine, fine. You win." Blaine said. Kurt smiled proudly.

"If only you had believed in my skills earlier you would have saved yourself from losing so terribly." Kurt said playfully. Blaine didn't even care that he lost, Kurt was joking around and being comfortable around him. It was the best feeling in the world.

"Just wait until we move to the games that are I'm good at." Blaine said. Kurt hopped on to his counter and was quiet for a little while.

"Thank you for inviting me over Blaine. It's so nice to just have fun and have nothing else to worry about." Kurt said sincerely. Blaine didn't pry, he wanted Kurt to continue to be comfortable.

"Well thank you for coming over. I'm having a lot of fun with you." Blaine smiled at him. They looked at each other for probably a few seconds too long. They looked away, both hoping that the other didn't notice they were blushing. Suddenly, they both heard Cooper blasting music upstairs.

"Your brother is a Taylor Swift fan?" Kurt said hearing the beginning of Love Story.

"Who isn't?" Blaine asked.

"Eh she's okay." Kurt shrugged.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you don't feel the magic of her songs." Blaine asked.

"Maybe I just can't relate." Kurt guessed. Blaine, feeling brave, put his arms around Kurt's waist and lifted him of the counter and spun him around. To his pleasant surprise, Kurt was laughing as he did so.

"BLAINE! Put me down!" Kurt squealed, but was still laughing.

" _See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns._ " Blaine sung, looking up at Kurt who was now smiling down at him. _"See you make your way into the crowd and say hello._ " He let Kurt down gently but didn't let him go far. He put one hand on his waist and held his other hand and they danced around the kitchen.

"You're silly." Kurt was laughing to the point where he was showing teeth. It was beautiful.

" _You were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles-_ Sing with me Kurt!" He demanded before dramatically singing more of the song. " _And I was crying on the staircase begging you please don't go! And I said-_ "

" _Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone. I'll be waiting all that's left to do is run._ " Kurt sang softly back and suddenly the mood shifted from playful to what they had both been avoiding. They were dancing together slowly and their eyes caught. The rest of the world seemed to disappear and it was only them. Slow dancing and getting lost in each others eyes. They didn't know how long they were dancing.

 _Romeo save me, I've been feeling so alone._

 _I keep waiting for you but you never come_

 _is this in my head? I don't know what to think_

 _He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said..._

At this point, Blaine had made up his mind and decided to make his move. He was going to kiss Kurt. He moved in slowly and just when he knew Kurt registered what he was about to do, they were interrupted.

"So who won Mario Kart?" Cooper asked, seemingly unaware of the moment he had just destroyed. They had jumped away from each other so quickly once they heard his voice.

"Kurt." Blaine recovered quickly. "He's better than Jeff." Cooper's mouth dropped.

"He's better than King Jeffery?" Cooper asked. "I might need to play you sometime Kurt."

"Y-yeah that would be fun." Kurt said sounding kind of weird. "Uh..where's your bathroom?"

"Upstairs to the left." Blaine said and Kurt excused himself. When Blaine was sure Kurt was out of earshot Blaine glared at his brother. "Thanks a lot Coop."

"Blaine that kid looked like he was about to pass out." Cooper said seriously. "I can tell he really likes you squirt but I don't know if he was ready to be kissed." Blaine felt embarrassed, he should have asked Kurt first. He got so lost in the moment.

"So that's why you interrupted." Blaine said quietly.

"You two need to talk about your feelings." Cooper said, like he had told Blaine a million different times.

"I don't want to make him nervous." Blaine said in a small voice. "I always want him to be comfortable around me and feel like he can talk to me about anything."

"Firsts can be nerve racking Blaine. Especially from what you told me about Kurt, just having nice friends is new territory for him." Cooper reminded him. "I know you really like him, but he's obviously carrying some baggage he doesn't want to address. And you need to decide if that's something you can handle. Kurt should be with someone who can be patient and understanding and willing to move slowly." Blaine thought about that. He knew Kurt was keeping things from him and he was just so eager to know what it was and help that he didn't even think of Kurt needing to get to the point where he had come to terms with his issues. It's like Wes told him earlier. Kurt needs time. Could Blaine give him time?

"So I shouldn't make a move?" Blaine asked feeling incredibly discouraged.

"That's not what I'm saying. It's your choice Blaine. Just don't get disappointed if you do get together he's still closed off." Cooper pat him on the shoulder. "Relationships don't change people. People change people, but they have to be open to change." Blaine sighed. He didn't know what to do.

"Can you keep Kurt company for half an hour while I do something?" Blaine asked. He wanted some time to think about some things.

"Of course little brother." Cooper smiled sweetly. He knew his little brother was going to make the right decision.

"So do you want to play another game Blaine?" Kurt asked when he came back into the kitchen.

"I have to call my parents for a little bit, but Cooper will play games with you until I get back." Blaine said before quickly leaving the room. Kurt looked confused and a little sad Cooper noticed.

"So Kurt," Cooper put his arm around Kurt's shoulders, and walked them to the living room couch. "Let's have a little talk."

"A-about what?" Kurt asked him.

"I know you like my brother." Cooper said bluntly.

"I-I wh-what? N-n-no-" Kurt stumbled over his words.

"Kurt it's okay. Obviously, devilishly good looks and amazing personalities run in the family." Cooper said, flattering himself. "I don't think he knows you like him."

"It's not obvious?" Kurt asked looking hopeful.

"Oh no it's painfully obvious. I'm almost sure everyone in the entire world can feel your heart beating whenever Blaine's around." Cooper chuckled.

"They cannot." Kurt scowled at him. Cooper was almost scared.

"Woah kid. Keep the death glare at bay, I'm just joking." Cooper shielding his face. "I'm just saying anyone can see that you two mean a lot to each other. But luckily enough, you've fallen for the most oblivious person in Ohio." Cooper joked. Kurt laughed nervously.

"Um...does he like me back?" Kurt asked softly before looking away. "I-I swore for a moment he..I thought h-he was going to kiss me and I froze. He's one of my first friends and he would be my first kiss. No one has ever liked me this way and it's scary." Kurt didn't know why he was saying all this to Blaine's brother.

"You've been through some tough shit haven't you?" Cooper asked. Kurt looked up at him and he could see pain in his eyes. He reminded him so much of Blaine just a few months ago. He could tell Kurt was still going though stuff.

"I guess so." Kurt shrugged.

"How'd you get that scar under your chin? Bullies at your old school?" Cooper asked him and watched as the boy froze, obviously not expecting the question.

"You can see it?" He asked covering his face.

"Am I not supposed to?" Cooper asked raising an eyebrow. Kurt groaned.

"The make-up probably came off when I was washing my face." Kurt mumbled to himself. "I knew I should have gotten the water proof." While Kurt berated himself Cooper processed this information. Kurt obviously had a bunch of things he didn't want anyone to know about. But his brother was persistent. They would probably crash and burn as a couple or meld pretty well. Cooper hoped it was the latter.

"Kurt, look at me." Cooper said, trying to get serious. Kurt looked up at him, hand still covering as much of the scar as he could. It was a scarily long scar. "I don't know what it's like to go through things like Blaine did and like you are. So I know I'm the last person you ever want to talk to about anything, which means I'm not going to pry. But I know my brother will listen and wants to listen to every single word that comes out of your mouth. And he'll try to fix every problem even if you don't think he can. He's just that amazing and at times it can be overwhelming but Blaine always has good intentions."

"T-there are just things I don't know how to talk about yet." Kurt responded sadly. "I want to be able to tell Blaine everything, but-"

"Blaine will wait. He'll wait until you're ready." Cooper smiled at him softly then possibly over stepped a little. "But Kurt, if whatever it is gets too much, don't wait. Friends are there for support and help. You never have to go through anything alone again." Kurt looked astonished. It was as if he really needed to hear that.

"I wish I had a brother like you." Kurt admitted. Cooper felt his heart break for him. So he did the only thing he could. Hugged him tightly.

"Well if you're ever in need of brotherly advice, I'll be here."

* * *

Meanwhile, upstairs in his bedroom, Blaine was thinking about what Cooper had said. He liked Kurt. A lot. And all Blaine knew right then was that he wanted to be with him. Was that enough?

He stared at the wall hard. He pretended it was Kurt looking back at him. He walked up to the wall, handed it imaginary flowers and took a step back.

"Kurt, There's a moment when you say to yourself, 'Oh there you are. I've been looking for you forever." He had been repeating this line over and over now. "Everyday being in your presence makes me feel whole. You're my missing puzzle piece." He reached over to his ipod and started playing teenage dream.

"Will you be my boyfriend?" He asked but then sighed. He threw himself on his bed.

"That's probably too cheesy." He looked up at the ceiling before reaching for his phone and calling Wes.

"Hey Blaine. What's up? You and Kurt having fun?" Wes asked.

"I need your help." Blaine said right away.

"No 'hey Wes we're good. How are you today'?" He asked. Blaine just sighed. "What do you need Blaine?"

"I need you to help me ask Kurt out." Blaine said. He practically could feel Wes judging him over the phone.

"You want me to ask Kurt out with you?" He asked slowly. "I'm not really looking for a polyamorous relationship right now, but thanks for the asking."

" _Wes_." Blaine whined. "Do you want me to be lonely forever?"

"Hmmm" Wes pretended to think about it. Sometimes Blaine couldn't stand his friends. "I guess not."

"Okay, so here's what I need you to do."

* * *

"I'm sorry about earlier." Blaine said before Kurt had to go home. They were in the back of Cooper's car talking quietly. Thankful the radio was on so Cooper couldn't eavesdrop.

"It's okay. I guess you were right about Taylor Swift." Kurt laughed softly. Blaine smiled at him.

"What can I say? Her music creates memorable moments." Blaine almost wanted to forget about the plan he had made with Wes earlier and ask Kurt out then. But he controlled himself.

"Thanks for today Blaine. You really are the best friend I ever had." Kurt told him and reached his hand over to cover Blaine's.

"You're my best friend too." Blaine hoped soon enough best friend would turn into boyfriend.

"We're here Kurt." Cooper yet again, this time unintentionally, ruined a sweet moment. "It was nice to meet you, hope you come over again soon!"

"Bye Cooper, thanks for driving me home. Bye Blaine, I'll see you in school tomorrow." Kurt said as he got out of the car.

Blaine noticed how Kurt waited until the car had driven off to go inside. But neither of them could have noticed the look of fear when he walked into his house, the shout of pain he let out when his head was forced against the door, and the cries he held in as his mother repeatedly struck his body.

* * *

Kurt felt on edge all day at school the next day. His body hurt from what happened when he got home last night and all he wanted to do was go home and lay down. He didn't know why but he felt like something was going to happen. His friends were giving him strange looks all day. Everyone except for Blaine was acting weird.

It made him nervous.

So at the end of the day when Wes, David, Nick and Jeff told them they had a "surprise" for him, he was reluctant to follow them.

"Shouldn't we wait for Blaine?" Kurt asked but Nick and Jeff shook their heads.

"Come with us." Jeff urged him. Kurt raised an eyebrow at him. He looked at all his friends around him giving him creepy smiles.

"What's going on?" Kurt asked them, not going to follow him. He's known these guys for a few months and he feels like maybe he shouldn't trust them as much as he does. But no matter how much he trusted them, he felt extremely anxious and that never ended well.

"Just follow us for a minute will you?" David smiled a little too brightly. Kurt frowned and looked to Wes who was looking at him with a small encouraging smile.

"Trust us." Wes said and Kurt's frown deepened but he followed them. They led him to where they held Warblers Practice and then gestured for him to go inside. He looked at them all, still on edge but went inside. He was instantly startled by them slamming the door behind him. He felt his heart drop and his chest tighten. _Please not now._

"What the hell guys?" He yelled with wide scared eyes.

"Kurt?" He whipped around at the nervous sounding voice. It was Blaine, with red and yellow flowers in his hands.

"B-blaine? What's going on?" He asked not understanding. Blaine approached him slowly and held out the flowers which Kurt took carefully.

"Yel-yellow roses mean friendship." Blaine started out looking Kurt deep in the eyes. "And you are my best friend Kurt."

"Blaine what-?" Kurt still not processing what's going on.

"Red roses." Blaine continues on as if Kurt hadn't spoken. "They umm..they usually mean 'I love you'." Kurt breath hitched and he couldn't breathe properly. "It-It's too early for that. But I-I am crazy about you Kurt Hummel. The red roses to me are hope and promises f-for romance."

"Blaine I-" Kurt tried to interrupt but Blaine was intent on finishing his speech. Obviously not seeing that Kurt was having a little trouble breathing.

"There's a moment when you say to yourself, 'Oh there you are, I've been looking for you forever.'." Kurt could not believe this was happening to him. He's being asked out by the guy of his dreams and he literally is taking his breath away. "Just everyday, being in your presence makes me happier...it makes me feel whole, like I've been missing a piece of me my whole life and I've finally found it..found you." Blaine takes a deep breath before forming his next words. "You move me Kurt. And I was wondering maybe if you f-felt the same way and would like to be my boyfriend?" Kurt's looking at him with wide eyes by now and taking short uneven breaths.

"I- Blaine.." He forces out, hoping Blaine will understand. Which he does because he automatically panics.

"Oh god! I'm sorry, I was rambling about my stupid feelings for you and you can't even breathe!" Blaine takes the flowers from Kurt and lays them on the table near them. He takes Kurt's hands and hold them against his chest. "Breathe with me okay Kurt?" He murmurs. "Breathe in." They both take a long breath in. "Breathe out." and they let it out. "Come on lets do this a few more times." He says soothingly. Eventually, Kurt's no longer out of breath and Blaine is back to being nervous.

"Thank you." Kurt said. "I know that wasn't the reaction you were going for." They both laugh at that.

"No. But it was better than you rejecting me." Blaine says before wincing. "Which you still didn't decide on and I could still be doomed for heartbreak and eternal embarrassment." Kurt holds in a laugh at that.

"I-I uh I really like you too Blaine. I would love to be your boyfriend." Kurt says blushing a bit. Kurt would never forget the smile that graced Blaine's lips when he said that.

"I...that's.." Blaine seems speechless before shaking his head and looking at Kurt again, eyes glancing down to his lips for a moment too long. "Can I kiss you?" He whispered. Kurt nodded slowly and Blaine sighed in relief and cupped the side of Kurt's face before slowly pressing his lips to Kurt's. At first Kurt doesn't react. He just let's Blaine kiss him. But soon enough he's cupping Blaine's cheek and kissing him harder before they both pull away and stare at each other.

"Is this really happening?" Kurt asked and Blaine smiled at him before kissing him again quickly.

"Yes it is." Blaine says quietly. "I-I wanted to do this yesterday when you were at my house but..."

"Cooper." Kurt said for him.

"Yeah, I didn't want to kiss you without letting you know how I felt. I want you to know this relationship can go as slow as you need it to go. I always want you to be comfortable with me." Blaine said. Kurt kissed him, just because he could.

"I'm always comfortable with you." Kurt said. It was true, no one made him feel safer than Blaine.

"Not when it comes to talking about anything really personal." Blaine said and Kurt looked away. Blaine had no idea how much Kurt wanted to tell him. But he just couldn't. At least not yet. "Hey, I'm not going to push you to tell me anything right now. I'll be patient. So if I'm prying to much you can just tell me that."

"Cooper was right about how thoughtful you are." Kurt smiled at him then furrowed his eyebrows for a moment. "Hey how did you know what to do to help me with my panic attack?" Blaine blushed a little.

"To be honest, when you told me you get them sometimes, I looked online to see how to help. And I asked Wes because he knows just about everything." Blaine said truthfully. Kurt had never felt more cared about then he did at that moment.

"Thank you." He tried to convey just how much he meant that by wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck and kissing him softly on the lips. "You know I was singing to you in the car."

"I was hoping you were." Blaine said, resting his forehead on Kurt's

" _I've been waiting all my life and now I've found you._ " Kurt sung. " _I don't know what to do. I think I'm fallin' for you._ " Blaine kissed Kurt's nose and then kissed his lips again before they were interrupted by their nosy friends.

"Did you guys get together yet?"

"Are you making out?"

"What's going on in there?"

"Can we come in?"

Kurt and Blaine both shared a look of fondness before opening the door together. The boys looked and saw them holding hands and smiling.

"I honestly can't tell if they're together or not because that's how they always are." Jeff said looking at them for signs of change.

"Well Blaine doesn't look heartbroken." Nick determined. David stepped out to Kurt and grabbed his cheeks.

"Kurt's entire face is red. They were totally making out." David nodded as if he had figured out some great mystery.

"Congrats you two. You make a really great couple." Wes smiled.

"Thanks Wes." Kurt said. "You always have the less crazy response. The other three boys gasped.

"I'm am hurt, Kurt." David huffed.

"That was low." Jeff agreed.

"Maybe we shouldn't take you and Blaine to get coffee to celebrate your new relationship status." Nick crossed his arms. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"Wes wanna come with me and Kurt to get coffee?" Blaine asked, Wes laughed.

"Sure, lets go." Wes said following Kurt and Blaine out the room. David, Nick, and Jeff looked on as they walked away.

"How rude are they?" David mumbled. "My own fake boyfriend, leaving me for other dudes."

"You can come with me and Jeff and make Wes jealous." Nick smirked. David hooked arms with them and they walked out of the room.

"We are such joys how could they just walk away?" Jeff wondered.

"They'll understand one day sweetie."

* * *

 **What did you guys think? How'd you like Cooper? How'd you like how sweet that was? Completely different from that last chapter right? Let me know what you thought with a review! :)**

 **In the next chapters I want to explorer different POV's again (Wes, the Headmaster, maybe some of the other boys. This story is going to get rough. I hope you guys are ready!**

 **Until next time! xx**


	8. Feelings

**A/N: OK yes I know I took forever with this. I don't even know if people are still reading this. But just so you know i am going to finish it. So here is a nice sized chapter! It came out to 24 pages! Super sorry for the wait. Won't say it won't happen again. School and life happens sometimes.**

 **Anywayyyy this picks up after the ending of the previous chapter. You might want to reread.**

 **Okay so the song in this chapter is We Are Young by Fun. The arrangement I'm thinking of is the Pentatonix version though. It's on youtube and it's awesome if you want to check it out.**

 **Bold is Blaine singing and in one instance a text. _Bold and Italics together are Kurt and Blaine singing together._** _Italics alone are Kurt's thoughts and also him singing when it gets to the song._

 **Warning(s): Violence, language, child abuse**

 **I think that's about it. I hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

The day Kurt went home after he and Blaine got together he felt amazing. He felt on top of the world. He usually dreaded going home because he knew who he was going home to, but he sincerely believed no one could break his spirit.

Of course he was wrong.

"Mom? You home? The door was open." Time had gotten away from Kurt, which is something he didn't let happen. He wasn't careless but he was so happy.

He got no answer so he just shut the door and quietly headed to his room. His mom didn't seem to be home which was perfectly fine with him. He went to his room and started humming "Teenage Dream", the song Blaine had sung when they first met. Kurt smiled to himself and started to put his stuff away, not realizing there was someone in the room.

"Why the hell are you so happy?" Kurt jumped at the sound of his mother's voice and whipped around to see her with a beer in her hand, sitting in his bed. _I should know better than to be happy about something._

"Mom? What are you doing here?" Kurt asked breathlessly. She took a swig of the beer and Kurt gulped.

"Don't think I didn't notice you were late." She stood up and started walking around his room. "Now I'll ask you again, why are you so happy?"

"I-uh...nothing. Just had a good day at school." Kurt evaded her question the best he could but he knew he wouldn't get away with it.

"Oh really is that it?" She asked, sarcasm laced in her tone. She knew he was lying. He was about to stumble out some other excuse but his phone rang. He took it out and looked at the picture that popped up on his screen, it was Blaine.

"Answer it." His mom said with her trademark evil smirk. Kurt took a deep breath and answered the phone.

"Hi Blaine." Kurt tried his best to keep his composure.

"Hi boyfriend." Kurt could hear the smile in his voice and Kurt momentarily forgot the fear he was feeling a few moments ago as he smiled too. "It feels way too good to say that."

"Really Blaine?" Kurt chuckled.

"Yes Kurt. Come on say it with me." Blaine pleaded with him and Kurt could imagine him pouting.

"Fine, hi boyfriend." Kurt said and realized Blaine was right, it did feel great to say it. But then Kurt heard a loud crash and remembered where he was. His mom had broken her beer bottle on his dresser and she was now looking at him hard. Kurt gulped and knew he had to end this conversation soon.

"Hey, what was that noise?" Blaine asked and Kurt panicked internally.

"My uh mom broke something in the kitchen. I should help her with that but I'll call you later alright?" Kurt told him.

"Okay! I'll see you in school tomorrow, boyfriend." Blaine said and Kurt smiled through the tears that were threatening to fall, he knew what was about to happen.

"Bye Blaine." Kurt hung up after a moment and put his phone down. It was quiet for a while but his mom didn't move from her spot.

"Boyfriend?" His mom asked with a dangerous growl in his voice. Kurt didn't respond so she walked up to him slowly.

"Oh Kurt, you really thought you could hide this from me?" She clicks her tongue and Kurt walks back pressing himself to the wall.

"I-I wasn't trying to h-hide it." Kurt says defensively.

"Mmmhmm." His mother hums. "Lay down on floor and don't move." She orders and Kurt follows immediately. She then proceeds to kick him repeatedly in his sides. It keeps going from about 5 minutes. Kurt is trying his best not to sob and his mom is calling him every name in the book:

 _Fag. Whore. Cocksucker._ _ **DISAPPOINTMENT.**_

When she's done she makes him get up and makes him stay in his room for the rest of the night.

"If you ever think of bringing _him_ around here, I'll beat the shit out of you right in front of him." She threatened before slamming his door shut. Kurt doesn't cry right then. He picks up his phone from where he placed it down. He noticed he had one message from Blaine. And when he read it he did cry.

 **Hey Kurt! I told my parents we're together and they were so happy! They want to meet you soon! Just call me when you can. Okay? Xoxo**

* * *

At the beginning of relationships, there is usually a honeymoon phase. With Kurt and Blaine there sure was. At least for the first half of the school day. Then Kurt would grow a bit nervous, looking at the clock and refusing to spend even a second late with his friends and boyfriend. Blaine, still trying to tear down the many walls of Kurt Hummel, thought he had figured out the perfect way to spend more time with his boyfriend in a more relaxed setting.

A date.

"So you know what I just realized?" Kurt looked up from his lunch to see his boyfriend staring at him.

"That it's creepy to watch other people eat?" Kurt tilted his head to the side. Blaine laughed.

"No, but I'll keep that in mind. The way you chew is adorable." Kurt scrunched up his nose.

"People can't chew adorably Blaine."

"You obviously haven't seen yourself chew."

Kurt rolls his eyes but couldn't help but smile. Blaine was a sweetheart and he didn't think he would ever get used to him,

"So what did you just realize?" Kurt asked.

"We haven't had our first date yet." Blaine said.

"When do we have time? We have school and Warbler's practice." Kurt frowned. It wasn't that he didn't want to go on a date. He loved the idea, but after what happened with his mother when she found out they were together he knew she would be watching him even closer than she already did.

"What about during the weekend? I know you always say your mother doesn't like you out late, so we can just do it during the day." Blaine looked so excited Kurt couldn't even say no, no matter how scared he was that his mother would find out.

"Okay Blaine." Kurt smiled. "Where are we going?"

"I haven't decided yet, is there any place you want to go?" Blaine asked.

"I don't know. Where do people go on dates?" Kurt wondered aloud.

"Well Jeff and I go to fancy restaurants sometimes." Nick said as he and Jeff made it to the lunch table.

"Or to the movies." Jeff said.

"What did you do for your first date?" Kurt asked them.

"It was summertime so we went to a water park. We were with Blaine, Wes, and David but we kind of left them to hang out alone together." Nick smiled at the memory.

"Oh yeah, I remember that." Blaine said. "You made me get on the line for that terrifying ship ride and then you disappeared."

"We apologized like a hundred times Blaine." Jeff sighed. "We didn't know you would cry."

"You cried at a water park?" Kurt looked at Blaine, trying not to show how amused he was.

"I hate rollercoasters and anything that goes upside down." Blaine mumbled. Kurt giggled and reached out his hand to hold Blaine's. He caught himself and retracted his hand, which didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the boys.

"No one is going to say anything Kurt." Nick said with a sad smile on his face. He remembered feeling hesitant to hold Jeff's hand in school.

"Yeah Kurt. And if they did, we have your back." Jeff grinned. Blaine reached over and held Kurt's hand.

"Most people here are understanding Kurt. You don't have to worry." Blaine said. Kurt just nodded. Being able to be himself in school took some getting used to. Especially since he could never be himself at home.

"So, no rollercoasters or hanging upside down on the first date?" Kurt changed the subject but didn't let go of Blaine's hand. It was nice let go of his fears for a while.

* * *

"I don't know how this date is going to go? What if I mess up and Blaine decides he doesn't want to be with me?" Kurt vented to Wes over the phone. He was freaking out about the date even though they haven't decided on where to go yet.

"How would you mess up Kurt?" Wes asked him.

"I don't know." Kurt whispered. His mother was home and he didn't want her to know he was going on a date with Blaine. He had no idea what she would do to him if she found out. "Maybe he'll realize how weird I am."

"I think he'll be open to whatever weirdness you're covering up." Wes said.

"How do you know?" Kurt whined.

"Because Kurt, you're so secretive about yourself. He wants you to be your complete self with him. I can guarantee you nothing, no matter how weird or freaky, will scare Blaine off."

"You don't know that." Kurt murmured.

"Do you like Blaine?" Wes asked.

"Duh." Kurt said immediately.

"Do you care for him?"

"Of course."

"Do you want his first date to be great?" Wes asked. Kurt paused. He hadn't really realized that this would be Blaine's first date too. _How selfish of me. Only thinking about myself. Why does Blaine even like me?_

"Yeah, I want him to have an amazing first date." Kurt said softly.

"Blaine wants the same for you. You don't have to worry so much Kurt." Wes said.

"You're ri-" He heard footsteps outside his door and stopped midsentence. "Y-you're right." He repeated in a hushed tone.

"Why are you whispering?" Wes asked.

"I-I shouldn't be on the phone right now." He said truthfully.

"Is your mom strict about electronics after a certain hour too?" Wes asked.

"Something like that." Kurt said vaguely. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight Wes."

"Goodnight Kurt."

* * *

"Hey, have you thought about where our date is going to be?" Kurt asked Blaine the next day at school. They were headed to their usual lunch table.

"Have you ever gone ice skating?" Blaine asked, with a curious smile on his face.

"When I was younger, I went with my dad. But keep in mind I was like 5 or 6, and I wasn't exactly what most people would call graceful." Kurt recalled, sitting down at the lunch table across from Blaine.

"How about ice skating as a first date?" Blaine asked. He seemed excited about the idea.

"I'm not very good." Kurt reiterated.

"You went when you were about 6. Come on," Blaine took his hand and smiled at him softly, "I promise it'll be fun."

"Okay, let's go ice staking. But don't say I didn't tell you how terrible I am."

"You really are terrible at this."

They went ice skating that weekend. It was early in the day, long before Blaine had even pictured going on a date. Whenever he saw Cooper go on a date it would be just before it got dark.

" _You take them out late, and that kind of guarantees you staying over to get some," Cooper wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, "you know." Blaine attempted to throw a pillow at his head but Cooper caught it._

" _You're disgusting."_

" _You'll understand when you're older Blainey."_

It was 7a.m right then, Blaine had probably gotten 5 hours of sleep before meeting Kurt at the skating rink. But he didn't mind.

"I-I told y-y-you." Kurt was struggling to stay upright and was trying his best to make it back to the wall on the side to hold on to.

"Oh no you don't." Blaine skates in front of Kurt and takes both of his hands. "I'm going to help you okay. Do you trust me?"

"W-will I fall?" Kurt asked quite frantically. Blaine knew not to laugh.

"You might, but I'll be there to help you up. It's all a part of learning. Now, once again, do you trust me?" He asked. Kurt looked at him, took a breath, and nodded.

"Okay, we're going to start simple." Blaine let go of one of Kurt's hands, so they could skate side by side. "Bend your knees, back straight, arms out to our side if you feel wobbly. We are going to try skating slowly okay. And at some point I am going to let g-"

"What?"

"Only if it seems like you're doing a good job. Believe me, I would not purposefully make you fall."

"Okay. I trust you."

"Let's do this."

Kurt managed to stay upright for about 10 minutes and Blaine didn't let go of his hand. They were moving pretty slow, but didn't really care. It was nice.

"Okay we are going to move a little faster now. Think you're ready?" Blaine asked Kurt.

"Yeah I think so." Kurt said sounding much more confident than he did earlier.

After another 10 minutes, they were now skating in sync and Kurt was doing really well. Blaine knew it was time for the next step.

"I'm going to let go now Kurt." He said in a soft voice. "I promise I'll stay right next to you okay. You're doing great, I know you can do it without me." He watches Kurt's frantic eyes close as he takes a deep breath and nods. He opens them again and there is only determination.

"I'm ready." Kurt says. Blaine lets go of Kurt's hand and wobbles for a second before regaining his balance and skating gracefully beside him.

"See I knew you could do it!" Blaine flashes an adoring smile at Kurt.

"Now could you hold my hand again?" Kurt asks, although showing no signs of wobbling or nervousness.

"Of course I can. May I ask why you want me to hold your hand? You're doing just fine on your own." Blaine said while he takes his hand once again. Kurt smiles at him.

"I just want to hold your hand before people start coming inside. It's nice to just hold your hand. Is it weird to say our hands just fit together nicely?" Kurt scrunched up his nose. Blaine can barely contain the overwhelming urge to kiss Kurt.

He guides them to the middle of the rink and laces his hands with Kurt's

"Can I just say I thought you were insane for wanting to go to a skating rink exactly when it opens. I wouldn't get up early on a weekend for anyone. But I got up at 5:30 a.m and made it here at 7 a.m. and I am having the best time with you. All I want to do right now is kiss you. Is that okay?" Blaine barely has time to finish his sentence before Kurt's lips crash onto his. It was nothing like the few kisses they've shared since they've gotten together. There was desperation and passion and...tears?

"Kurt?" Blaine pulled away and looked at Kurt's face and he was crying. "What..what's wrong? Was that too fast? I'm so sorr-"

"Blaine I kissed you." Kurt stopped Blaine from rambling. "You're just too sweet. I can't believe there is someone in my life as wonderful as you are, that will do things like ice skate at 7 a.m. and do it because they like me. You're just perfect. I don't want this date to ever be over." Kurt wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Well it's not over yet of course." Blaine smiles, "It's about a half an hour or so before anyone who values their sleep comes here, so let's skate some more and then go get some hot chocolate. How does that sound?"

"That sounds like the best first date ever."

* * *

And it really was the best first date ever. After ice skating, they went to get hot chocolate and they talked and talked. It was the most fun Kurt ever had. It was nice just getting to know Blaine and tell him what he could about himself. It made him wish he could do that all the time. Just he and Blaine talking and spending time together. Nothing sounded better to be honest.

"The date was good huh?" Nick whispered to him and he jumped out of his skin. He had forgotten that he was in a Warbler's meeting. He was leaning his head on Blaine, and their hands were intertwined. Nick was on the other side of his with a gigantic grin on his face.

"I already told you how it went." Kurt whispered back, knowing Wes would not be happy to see him and Nick having a side conversation.

"You have not let Blaine go since you got to school this morning." Nick nudged him and Kurt felt his entire face heat up when he realized how true it was. "Is this your way of marking your territory?"

"Blaine is not my territory and I am not a dog." Kurt bit back, but he knew Nick was just joking.

"Warbler Nick and Warbler Kurt. Is there something you'd like to tell the rest of us? Since you are having a conversation while we are talking about important Warbler business." Wes stopped to reprimand them. _It's weird having a friend I can get in trouble with._

"It was my fault Wes, sorry. I just asked about Warbler Kurt's date. Please continue about the soloist thing." Nick gave Wes his most charming smile and Kurt tried hard not to strangle his friend and he saw the same look on Wes' face. Kurt felt bad. It must be hard being in a role like Wes was when your friends are being assholes. He knew he had to apologize after the meeting.

"Please keep personal conversations for after the meeting. Anyway," Wes began. "David, Thad, and I decided that instead of having a soloist for all 3 songs. We'll have one song sung by our soloist Blaine, one that's a duet, and of course a huge group number. That will has a few solos. Maybe 3 or 4. Depends on the song."

"We'll take the names of people who want to audition now. Auditions will be held by the end of the week. Make sure you are ready." Thad said.

"The duet will be with Bl-" Kurt cut David off before he could even finish Blaine's name. This was the perfect opportunity to spend more time with Blaine.

"IWANTTOAUDITION!" Kurt blurted out, cheeks turning pink and eyes avoiding the rest of the groups smirking faces.

"We didn't see that coming." David chuckled. "Okay Kurt you need to prepare a song for the audition. We still need at least one more person to audition."

"I guess I will." Nick said smirking. "You ready for some tough competition Kurt?"

"Bring it on Duval." Kurt said confidently.

* * *

"Hey Wes I'm really sorry for talking during the meeting." Kurt said as soon as the meeting was over.

"It quiet alright Kurt." Wes gave him a small smile. "You've been on cloud nine all day, so I'll give you a pass."

"I have not." Kurt scoffed.

"Kurt you couldn't have been any more eager to duet with Blaine. The man obviously did something right on this date." David smirked.

"Get you mind out of the gutter, David." Blaine rolled his eyes. "We went ice skating and to get hot chocolate."

"Doesn't mean there wasn't time for any steamy make out sessions." Jeff said bluntly.

"Okay can we drop this, I have to go home and find a song to beat Nick with." Kurt boldly kissed Blaine quickly on the lips. "I'll call you later and maybe you can help me practice a few times?"

"I could come over to your house." Blaine offered and Kurt froze, briefly falling off cloud nine. Remembering what his mom said when she found out about them. Blaine couldn't ever meet his mom.

"No! Uh I'd feel better if we practice here." Kurt insisted. Blaine frowned but quickly recovered.

"Okay, we'll talk later." Blaine said.

"You sure you don't want to stay and get coffee with us Kurt?" Nick asked. Kurt, although he really wanted to say yes, knew he couldn't.

"I have to go home. Maybe some other time." Kurt said and he knew they could see the sadness in his face and he was too tired to hide it this time.

"Are you okay Kurt? You went from cloud nine to down in the dumps pretty quickly." Wes asked. Kurt knew they all cared and wanted an answer. And he wished he could tell.

"I'm fine, see you tomorrow guys." And he left immediately, leaving all the boys to look on after him worriedly.

* * *

Kurt thought and thought about songs he would like to do with Blaine. Couldn't be too romantic because two boys singing to each other would not get them to the next round. It was hard to choose a song.

So he decided to call Blaine.

"Hey Kurt." He could hear Blaine's smile and couldn't help but smile himself.

"Hi Blaine." He sighed.

"Having trouble picking an audition song?" Blaine asked. Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"How did you know?" He asked.

"I like to think I'm getting to know you pretty well. Plus, you never call me this early. I'm still out with the guys." Blaine said.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt." Kurt stumbled over his words.

"Kurt I'm always going to answer your calls. Our friends are important but you're important too. Especially to me. Don't forget that okay?" Blaine said sincerely.

"Okay." Kurt said shakily.

"Now did you have any songs in mind?" Blaine moved on, probably sensing Kurt was a little uncomfortable. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable with what he said. It was that in so little time, he was falling so hard for Blaine and he trusted him so much. And he knew he shouldn't be trusting anyone or falling too deep. Because once Kurt goes down, he'd probably bring Blaine down with him. And that was the last thing Kurt wanted to do. Kurt never wanted to hurt Blaine.

But, for now, he put those thoughts out of his head. Kurt deserved something or someone good in his life of a least a short time, right?

"No I have nothing. I didn't want to do anything too romantic and I want it to fit both our voices." Kurt admitted.

"So I guess Teenage Dream is out of the equation." Blaine said with an exaggerated sigh. Kurt giggled.

"Blaine seriously. If it were a regular glee club, I would just pick a song from Wicked and Nick wouldn't know what hit him." Kurt said confidently.

"Oh I know that. But I don't think you need a song from Wicked to beat Nick." Blaine said.

"And it's not just beating Nick. I want the Warblers to like it and think it's really fun." Kurt pouted.

"Okay this is going to be an unintentional terrible joke but what about a song by Fun?" Blaine asked. "'We Are Young' is the perfect song!"

"Do you really think we could pull that off?" Kurt asked.

"Of course. The guys would be doing the beat and the harmonizing in the background and you could start the song off. It's all up to you. And we get the next few Warbler's practices off to practice together. I have to split myself between you and Nick but it'll be fun!"

"Was that another pun?" Kurt groaned.

"You know you love my corny little jokes." Blaine said.

"I will never admit to that." Kurt said.

"Oh we'll see about that."

* * *

"Okay so I'll start the song. The harmonies come in then you come in and dazzle everyone with your voice. And the boys with pick up with the beats and the harmonies and then we with trade of lines at the end of the song and sing the last lines together." Blaine recalled what had just laid out for him after they had practiced the song. "I can kind of picture it sounding amazing."

"Me too." Kurt smiled widely. "I'm excited for everyone to hear!"

"Do you want to practice again before I go practice with Nick?" Blaine asked.

"No I think that was perfect. Why don't we just sit and talk?" Kurt asked eagerly.

"Sure." Blaine took Kurt's hand and led him to the couch, to sit next to him. "How about we ask each questions. I want to know more about my boyfriend. We can even set boundaries, if a question is too personal the person has to ask another question. How does that sound?" Kurt was honestly scared of what he wanted to know but it was just so nice being alone with Blaine that he nodded his head.

"Okay. You start." Kurt said.

"Favorite show?" Blaine asked.

"You know it changes. Right now, it's Project Runway. That was an easy question." Kurt said.

"It's not a test, it's for fun Kurt. Now it's your turn."

"What's your favorite show?" Kurt asked.

"Asking the same question is a cop out Kurt." Blaine complained with a grin on his face.

"Hey, I genuinely want to know. I don't know that, and I feel like I should." Kurt stood behind his question choice.

"It's Grey's Anatomy." Blaine said.

"Is that why you want to be a doctor if the whole music thing doesn't work out? Because I don't think hospitals are actually like that." Kurt giggles.

"Shh it's my turn now. What's your mother's name?" Blaine asked and for a second Kurt's light and airy mood vanished but he caught himself and forced a smile. This didn't go unnoticed by Blaine.

"Elizabeth. That's where my middle name comes from. My dad wanted me to have part of her name." Kurt said softly. If he focused on his dad he could keep himself from feeling uncomfortable about talking about this.

"Oh Kurt, I'm sorry. Was that too personal?" Blaine asked, feeling a bit bad for the change in mood. But he was glad Kurt was opening up to him.

"It's my turn for a question." Kurt stops Blaine. "I know it's early, but what do you hope becomes of this relationship?"

"That sounds like a parent question." Blaine jokes but Kurt just waits for him to answer. "I don't know honestly. All I know is that, you drive me crazy. In the best possible ways. I like you and I like being with you. I hope in time you open up to me more. I just hope no matter what, we will be best friends. Whether we break up or continue to be boyfriends or more. I just always want to have you in my life. You mean a lot to me."

Kurt could barely believe that answer. It was more than he ever expected to hear. He really wanted to kiss Blaine right then, but he restrained himself.

"I want you to ask me the same question." Kurt said seriously, never looking away from Blaine.

"I know it's early, but what do you hope becomes of this relationship?" Blaine asked.

"I don't know either. But I know that I just want to continue having moments with you. You have given me the best moments of my life, some that I replay in my head over and over when I go home. And right now, I don't want that feeling to end. So I hope that we'll continue to have moments together. Like this one." With each sentence Kurt moved closer to Blaine until their faces in a couple of inches apart. "And in this moment, my question is can you kiss me?"

"The answer to that question is always going to be yes." Blaine said and their lips met. It was soft, unrushed, and but quick. They were both enjoying their little game.

"It's your turn." Kurt said breathlessly.

"Will you ever set up a facebook profile?" Blaine asked. This had come up before, a lot. The other guys were always saying he should.

"I don't even have a computer at home." Kurt said.

"You can set it up on your phone, I'll help you do it." Blaine offered. "I'll even be your first friend."

"Okay fine." Kurt sighed. "But if it's annoying, I'm going to delete it."

"That's okay. Now let me show you how to set it up."

They sat side by side, setting up Kurt's facebook until Blaine had to go practice with Nick.

"Wait I have one more question before you leave." Kurt calls out to Blaine as he is leaving. Blaine turns around, already smiling. "Is Nick's performance better than mine?"

"Do you know why I don't get to choose who sings with me?" Blaine asked. Kurt shakes his head. "It's because I'm biased. If it were up to me, there's no contest. You would win. Everyone knows that. Which is why I have no say."

"Oh." Kurt felt speechless.

"Call me later?" Blaine asked.

"Of course."

* * *

"Kurt this is your 5 minute warning. Nick is going now, so you have some time to freak out before your performance." Jeff said, sticking his head out of the doors where the performances were happening.

"Thanks Jeff." Kurt said.

"Do you need company?" Jeff asked.

"No, I'm fine. Go watch your boyfriend sing." Kurt smiled but Jeff came and sat next to him anyway.

"I've seen him rehearse a bunch of times." Jeff said. "You need to calm down." Jeff gently put a hand on his shoulder and Kurt realized that he had been shaking a little.

"Sorry, I want this to go well." Kurt said softly.

"Because you want to spend more time with Blaine." Jeff said. Kurt looked at him with wide eyes.

"How did you know?"

"It makes sense." Jeff shrugged. "You can't hang out much after Warblers Practice, you were super clingy after your first date, and you probably can't go on dates every weekend. So you want this duet because you know it means you get more time with Blaine."

"Yeah you're right." Kurt said. He didn't know he was that transparent.

"Then you know what you have to do, right?" Jeff asked.

"Create a complicated schedule to hang out with my own boyfriend." Kurt sighed.

"No." Jeff frowned. "You gotta win this fucking thing."

"Shouldn't you be rooting for Nick?" Kurt asked even though he felt really touched about Jeff's support.

"I can root for both can't I? Right now don't think of me as Nick's boyfriend. Think of me as your friend. A friend who cares about you and wants you to win this fucking thing." Jeff stands up and jumps up and down. "Come on Kurt, you have to get pumped!"

"Jeff, I am not jumping up and down in hallway." Kurt crosses his arms.

"Come on, if you want to win, you have to jump with me." Jeff said, still bouncing.

"You look silly." Kurt laughed.

"You don't want me to look silly alone do you?" Jeff asked. Kurt let out an exaggerated sigh and got up and jumped up and down with Jeff. "Now we have to chant."

"I am not chanting." Kurt refused.

"Win this fucking thing!" Jeff chanted over and over again. Eventually, Kurt gave in and chanted with him. It was fun and something he wouldn't normally do. He felt calm. He didn't felt nervous anymore. _Holy shit, who knew Jeff was a freaking genius?_

They didn't know how long they chanted and bounced until they heard a loud cough interrupting them.

"So, I'm not going to ask what you two were doing." Wes said peaking his head through the door.

"I was psyching Kurt up for his audition! He was nervous." Jeff smiled brightly.

"And it worked?" Wes turned to Kurt.

"Yeah, I'm ready to win this fucking thing." Kurt said boldly.

"I love him. I want to keep him forever." Jeff said putting an arm around Kurt.

"I'm going to take him from you before you corrupt him even more." Wes smirked. "Kurt, let's go."

"Okay." Kurt followed Wes inside and then turn around to face Jeff. "Thank you for helping me out Jeff."

"No problem. It's what friends do."

* * *

"Warbler Kurt whenever you are ready." David said.

He and Blaine were standing side by side. It wouldn't be the exact arrangement they wanted until all the Warblers were preforming it together but they worked out a nice duet for their performance.

"Blaine and I are going to sing 'We Are Young' by Fun." Kurt said and then looked towards Blaine to give him his cue.

 **Give me a second I,  
I need to get my story straight  
My friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the Empire State  
My lover she's waiting for me just across the bar  
My seat's been taken by some sunglasses asking 'bout a scar, and  
I know I gave it to you months ago  
I know you're trying to forget  
But between the drinks and subtle things  
The holes in my apologies, you know  
I'm trying hard to take it back  
So if by the time the bar closes  
And you feel like falling down  
I'll carry you home  
**  
 _Tonight  
We are young  
So let's set the world on fire  
We can burn brighter than the sun_

 _Now I know that I'm not  
All that you got  
I guess that I, I just thought  
Maybe we could find new ways to fall apart  
But our friends are back  
So let's raise a toast  
'Cause I found someone to carry me home  
_  
 _ **Tonight  
We are young  
So let's set the world on fire  
We can burn brighter than the sun  
**_  
 _ **Tonight  
We are young  
So let's set the world on fire  
We can burn brighter than the sun  
**_ _  
Carry me home tonight (Nananananana)  
Just carry me home tonight (Nananananana)  
Carry me home tonight (Nananananana)  
Just carry me home tonight (Nananananana)  
_  
 **The moon is on my side (Nananananana)  
I have no reason to run (Nananananana)  
So will someone come and carry me home tonight (Nananananana)  
The angels never arrived (Nananananana)  
But I can hear the choir (Nananananana)  
So will someone come and carry me home (Nananananana)  
**  
 _ **Tonight  
We are young  
So let's set the world on fire  
We can burn brighter than the sun**_

Tonight  
We are young  
So let's set the world on fire  
We can burn brighter than the sun

 _So if by the time the bar closes  
And you feel like falling down  
I'll carry you home tonight_

They received a nice round of applause and were asked to leave the room. They were going to decide today whether Kurt or Nick would duet with Blaine.

Being up there made him realize more than anything, that he loved singing. He loved preforming and he was glad he chose to audition. No matter if he won or not, he still gets to go on stage and compete and he couldn't be happier about that. He told Blaine this.

"I could tell how much you love it. When you were up there, you just glowed." Blaine said with a smile.

"At first the only reason I auditioned was because I wanted to spend more time with you." Kurt admitted.

"Even if you don't get it, we'll find time to spend together." Blaine said, reaching for Kurt's hand to hold. He brings Kurt's hand up to his lips and plants a kiss on it. "I promise, okay?"

"Okay." Kurt smiles.

"Kurt. Blaine." David poked his head out of the doors. "We have the results." They followed David inside and sat next to Nick and Jeff on the stage.

"It was a tough decision to make." Thad said. "But we have come to a consensus."

"We loved the song choice, the voices went well together, and we think this could give us a win." David smiled widely at no one in particular.

"Kurt you will duet with Blaine." Wes said. Kurt tried not to smile too hard. He looked over at Nick and he noticed him and Jeff jumping up and down saying "He fucking won."

After hugging Blaine, he walked over to Nick, who immediately hugged him tightly. Initially, Kurt was shocked but after a few seconds he wrapped his arms around Nick and squeezed him back.

"I'm so happy you get to duet with Blaine. You two sounded amazing together." Nick whispered to him.

"You weren't supposed to hear us." Kurt said pulling back from the hug a little. Nick shrugged.

"I stayed in back. I just knew you'd bring it. You sounded so great." Nick gushed. "You won fair and square."

"Thank you Nick." Kurt felt like crying. His friends were being so nice and supportive. He would never get used to it,

"Everyone gather around on stage. We need to talk strategy." Thad shouted and all the Warblers gathered on stage.

"No one is expecting anything from us since we are all freshman. But we are going to show them what we are made of. These next four years the Dalton Academy Warblers are going to blow people's minds." David said with excitement in his eyes.

"Next week we start working on our songs. Jeff has offered to help with choreography. Please try not to miss a practice. These next several weeks will be brutal but we need to do well at Regionals to go to Nationals. We all want to go to Nationals right?" Wes asked. All the Warblers yelled out 'yeah'. "So let's work hard, have some fun along the way, and go to Nationals."

The boys all cheered and Wes dismissed them all early.

"You better get to practicing." Wes said to Kurt. "You sounded amazing but need to imagine doing that in front a crowd while also dancing."

"Are you implying that people make me nervous?" Kurt asked.

"Are you seriously asking that question?" Wes raised an eyebrow.

"Fine, I'll practice." Kurt mumbled causing Wes to laugh.

"Like I said you were amazing. I just want you to feel comfortable when you get on stage." Wes told him. "Is there a song that calms you down?"

"Blackbird." Blaine, who was standing close by, answered for him. Kurt smiled at him.

"You remembered."

"Of course. You said your dad used to sing it to you. And you sang it so well for your audition song." Blaine recalled.

"Well what I do, Kurt," Wes said, and Kurt tore his eyes from Blaine. "I sing the song that makes me calm first, and then I practice."

"I'll try it when I get home, Wes." Kurt smiled and it was the first thing he did.

* * *

" _Blackbird sitting in the dead of night. Take those broken wings and learn to fly, All your life. You were always waiting for this moment to arise."_

"Stop singing that damn song!" Kurt jumped at the sound of his mother's voice. She's been angry at him ever since she found out he was with Blaine.

"I'm sorry mom. Was I being too loud?" Kurt asked gently. She walked-well stumbled into the room Kurt looked at her in confusion. He was still on a bit of a high from getting to duet with Blaine.

"I don't want to hear your voice. Just shut up." Her voice slurred. Kurt looked at her with wide eyes and inhaled sharply. She was drunk again. That pulled him right back into reality.

"Mom? Have you been drinking again?" Kurt's voice wavered as she kept walking towards him. This has been happening too much.

"It's none of your business what I've been doing. Just stop that fucking music right now." She yelled going to Kurt's iPod doc and ripping out the iPod.

"Mom!" Kurt gasped. "I'm sorry but I'll stop that with that song but I really need to practice for Warblers practice tomorrow!"

"Do it somewhere else because tonight I'm not putting up with your screechy voice. You'll never make it anywhere with it so I don't know why you're even trying." She said with a sadistic smirk on her face. Kurt's eyes burned with tears.

"I will make it. I'm not going to let anyone push me around. Remember dad said nobody pushes the Hummels aroun-" Kurt wasn't able to finish as he was shoved hard against the wall. His eyes became terribly wide and he began shaking in fear.

"Your father isn't here anymore Kurt. Now you are going to say it with me. 'I will never make it anywhere in life.'" She said in a low voice. Kurt stared in her eyes but didn't say anything. She narrowed her eyes at him. Then she slapped him hard on his face.

"Say it." She said in a hard voice. Kurt suppressed a sob and took a deep breath.

"I...will n-never make it anywhere..in l-life." He let his tears fall freely and watched as his mother smiled. She kissed his forehead softly. She used to do it all the time and Kurt would always feel a rush of warmth fill his chest. But now all he felt was coldness.

"That's my boy." She patted his bruised cheek gently. "When you realize that you're not good enough early in your life, you won't be so surprised when you fail later on." She told him. Kurt looked away from her as she walked to the door. He waited until she was out of the room to begin crying.

It wasn't long before crying turned into sobbing and he didn't know what to do with himself anymore. Before he could fully understand what he was doing, he heard Blaine's voice in his ear asking what was wrong. _Wrong choice. He can't comfort me. He's going to want to know what happened._

"Kurt why are you crying? Are you hurt? Do you need me to come over there?" Blaine asked sounding more worried by the second. Which only made Kurt terrified because Blaine couldn't know what happened.

"No, Blaine I-I'm sorry. It's nothing. I'm just a little upset." Kurt managed to contain his sobs long enough to assure Blaine.

"Kurt you're more than a little upset." Blaine said sounding a little hurt that Kurt was lying.

"It was just a nightmare I had. I get nightmares sometimes." Kurt lied. Well he did get nightmares so it wasn't a total lie.

"Oh do you want to talk about it?" Blaine asked.

"Actually, I'd prefer if you could take my mind off it." Kurt sniffled. "Can you talk to me about something or tell me a story?" Blaine was silent for a little bit. Kurt knew he was battling with whether to press him on the situation or help talk his mind off it.

"Okay I'll let you pick from these choices. The story of how I came out to my family or how I became friends with the guys." Blaine said.

"Can't I hear both?" Kurt pouted.

"I have to save some of my stories for the next time you call me in tears." Blaine said mostly joking.

"I want to hear about when you came out to your family." Kurt decided.

"Okay. Which time? My mom and dad or Cooper?" Blaine asked.

"Cooper."

"Okay good so chronological order then." Blaine said sounding pleased.

"I'll want to hear how you came out to your parents soon as well."

"Well I'm sure they would love to tell you that story when you meet them." Blaine said and was met with silence. "Too much?"

"No, sorry. Just processing. I'd love to meet your parents." Kurt said and it was true. Even though he was nervous about it. What terrified him more than meeting Blaine's parents was Blaine wanting to meet his mom. Because that was _never_ happening.

"We'll set something up soon. Now Cooper story?"

"Cooper story."

"Okay so I was thinking about asking my friend to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Normally for these dances girls ask the guys so I tried to keep the dance a secret at my house the whole year." Blaine began.

"How did that go for you?" Kurt asked.

"Cooper went to my school when he was younger. He knew the dance was coming up. So he asked me about who I was going with."

" _Come on Blainey, I know someone in school thinks your bowties are adorable and wants to go to the dance with you."_

" _I did get asked but I didn't want to go with them." Blaine admitted._

" _Are you waiting for a specific person to ask you?" Cooper asked._

" _Yes." Blaine answered hoping that would get Cooper off his back._

" _What's their name?" Cooper asked. That's when Blaine realized he never once mentioned a girl asking him._ _He wondered if that was intentional or if Cooper somehow found out his secret._

" _Cooper don't you have something better to do?" Blaine sighed in frustration_

" _Better than be interested in my little brother's life?" Cooper raised an eyebrow. "Blaine come on we talk about everything."_

" _I'm going alone right now, that's all you need to know Cooper." Blaine turned away from Cooper anger radiating off of him. He was too scared his brother knew he was gay and would hate him. He didn't want to lose what he had with his brother._

" _You know who I went with in middle school?" Cooper asked, still not going away._

" _Some popular person. I don't remember." Blaine mumbled._

" _My best friend Marissa. Remember her?" Cooper asked and Blaine turned around._

" _Yeah she used to come to the house all the time." Blaine said._

" _People thought it was weird because a more popular girl asked me to go and I chose to go with Marissa." Cooper said. "They were very mean to her but she didn't care. She and I danced the whole night and had fun. That's why I went with her. I knew I was going to have a great time with her. Even if people were going to judge me." Blaine looked up at Cooper when he said that. Suddenly his eyes were watery._

" _Our situations are a lot more different Cooper." Blaine whispered. Cooper was silent as he waited for Blaine to elaborate. "I don't want you to look at me any different."_

" _Blaine nothing you can say would make me look at you different." Cooper said honestly. Blaine took a deep breath._

" _I'm gay Cooper. I want to ask my best friend, Ryan to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with me." Blaine let the tears fall from his eyes and his brother quickly hugged him tight._

" _I know." Cooper said simply. "And I love you and support you little brother."_

" _How did you know?" Blaine pulled away a little._

" _I have fantastic gaydar." Cooper said, ruining the moment. Blaine snorted and shoved his brother away. "Hey I totally do. But the actual reason is that are rooms are right next to each other. Thin walls little brother. You and Ryan talk about Adam Levine like he's some kind of sex god."_

" _Oh my god Cooper." Blaine turned red and covered his face._

" _That's exactly how you sound but replace my name with Adam Levine." Cooper said. "Then say look at that body Ryan. Is it even legal to look that good?"_

" _It's official. You are the worst brother there ever was." Blaine said._

"Really Adam Levine?" Kurt asked

"Have you seen the man Kurt? He's so hot." Blaine said dreamily.

"Do I need to give you a moment or…" Kurt teased.

"No." Blaine rolled his eyes fondly. "I can control myself."

"It really hurt you to keep the dance and your sexuality from Cooper didn't it?" Kurt asked softly.

"Yeah. I went to him for everything. I do now too." Blaine said. "He helped me so much when I started at Dalton. I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Even if he's a pain in the ass." Kurt smirked a little.

"He's the world's most annoying brother but I wouldn't trade him for anything." Blaine said.

"How did you ask Ryan to the dance?" Kurt asked curiously.

"Oh it was pretty cheesy. He had a notebook he took out at lunchtime and I put a note asking if he wanted to go to the dance as friends in the notebook. I had boxes for him to check. It was something like: [Yes] [Are you crazy?] [No way don't ever talk to me again]. And he checked [Are you crazy?]."

"I probably would have done the same." Kurt said. "What happened?"

"He showed it to me and I said yeah I am crazy. I told him what Cooper said about going with your best friend because you know you're going to have fun. And I wanted to be true to myself. I wanted to go with a boy to my dance." Blaine said.

"You're so brave." Kurt said. "What did he say after that?"

"He checked the yes and gave me the paper back. He really wanted to go and have fun too." Blaine said. "I wish we could have had fun. I feel so guilty for putting him through that night."

"Hey." Kurt frowned. "You couldn't have known those kids would attack you guys like that. It's not your fault."

"Kurt I got teased and pushed around at school for being myself. I should have known better than to bring a boy to the dance with me." Blaine sighed.

"Blaine they put you in the hospital. You didn't go to your middle school graduation. It's not your fault for wanting to be yourself, it's those terrible people's faults." Kurt said fiercely. "They were too close minded to see that there was nothing wrong with you. That you were just like any other kid going to the dance wanting to have a good time. Don't blame yourself Blaine, it's not your fault."

"How did this phone go from me making you feel better to you making me feel better?" Blaine laughed despite himself.

"Relationships are all about being there for each other. That's what you've taught me. So I'm going to be there for you as much as you are for me." Kurt promised.

"I really like you." Blaine sighed happily. Kurt smiled.

"I really like you too."

"It's dinner time so I have to hang up baby." Blaine said.

"Did you just call me baby?" Kurt could not keep the smile off his face. He was practically beaming.

"Oh, uh yeah I guess I did. Is that okay?" Blaine asked a little nervously.

"Sure sugarbear." Kurt joked.

"You cannot call me that." Blaine groaned.

"Honey bun?" Kurt asked

"I think that's worse." Blaine said. "How about you stick to Blaine."

"Okay Blainey Boo." Kurt cackled.

"I'm hanging up on you."

"Okay okay sorry! Go eat dinner Blaine." Kurt said.

"I will! Make sure you practice more for Warbler's practice tomorrow. Wes is going to go hard on everyone tomorrow." And that's when what happened right before Kurt called Blaine hit Kurt like a freight train.

"B-Blaine?" He asked.

"Yeah?" Blaine asked sounding almost worried. Kurt wanted to tell him what he was thinking. That he had no idea if he was gonna go to Warbler's practice tomorrow. That he didn't know if he ever wanted to sing again. After all, what his mom said about him couldn't be too far from the truth right?

"I really did like when you called me baby. So if you want to call me it every now and then you can." Kurt said instead.

"Okay see you tomorrow baby!"

"See ya honey."

"Honey is better!"

"Hang up the phone Blaine."

"Fine fine."

* * *

 **That was...alot right? But in a good way i hope! Things are going to go downhill from here. Get ready for a ride.**

 **Within the next the 2 weeks I will try to have the next chapter up!**

 **Thanks for reading and sticking around with my crazy posting patterns! Please review and let me know what you thought! :)**

 **Until next time! xx**


	9. Understanding Kurt

**A/N: Soooo i know i said 2 weeks and it wasn't 2 weeks but i have a good explanation. I went on vacation and somehow part of the document got erased and i did literally everything to retrieve it but it didn't work. So i had to rewrite and remember things and it was frustrating and i took a break from it for a while. Now I'm back with tons of ideas. So while this chapter caused me much pain, expect really good intense (maybe even cute) chapters next. They will be slowly posted because school starts in a few days but as i promised before i will not give up on this story. :)**

 **Anyway i hope you all like this chapter. It's important.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Warning(s): Language, Child Abuse, Violence**

* * *

The next morning reality of what happened weighed on Kurt's shoulders. The feeling of dread coursed through his veins. He couldn't shake the feeling that if a single note left his mouth, it would be another slap to his face. Another shove against the wall. More tearing down of everything he's been trying so hard to keep together. His mother is taking away something he absolutely loves to do and making him terrified at the thought of ever doing it again.

He looked at himself in the mirror as he got ready for school. His cheek was sort of bruised. He didn't feel like making an excuse at school today, he was too tired.

He had a different idea.

 _Do you know what type of concealer Cooper uses? –K_

 **How did you know he uses concealer? –B**

 _It was in the bathroom at your house and it said "Cooper's do not touch". I don't remember the brand. –K_

 **I'll send a picture once Cooper gets out of the bathroom. What's the concealer for? –B**

 _To conceal things. –K_

 **Kurt. –B**

 _For imperfections on my face. -K_

 **Your face is gorgeous. –B**

 _Thanks Romeo still gonna need that concealer picture. And if you can ask Cooper where he gets his from and how much it is that would be great. –K_

 **He says he buys it online. But the mall has a brand that comes close. –B**

Kurt saved the picture to his phone and took a deep breath before walking to his mother's room. He knocked on the door softly. He knew this was a terrible idea.

"What?" She yelled from inside the room.

"I-I need money." Kurt said. There was silence before the door was violently swung open.

"Do you really think that there is money to spare? Especially on you? What do you need?" His mother sneered.

"I need concealer to cover up the mark you made on my face." He said bluntly. He decided to be honest, he knew his mother would find out if he lied to her. And the outcome wouldn't be good.

"Just make up an excuse. Or don't go to school. I don't care. You aren't getting any money." She said about to close the door but Kurt bravely stopped it from shutting.

"I can't I have a test today and a meeting after school." Kurt stood his ground.

"Is the meeting that fucking singing group?" She asked. Kurt's heart stopped.

"I-I uh-"

"What did I tell you yesterday?" She grasped his arm and slammed it against the wall. Kurt didn't answer, he was too busy trying not to cry. He did not need any of this to happen before school.

"What. Did. I. Fucking. Tell. You?" She continuously slammed him against the wall.

"I'm- I'm" He was in too much pain to answer.

"Answer me. What did I tell you?" And she punched him in eye. He knew she was trying to get the words out of him. And it worked.

"I'm not good enough." He sobbed and she promptly dropped his arm.

"See was that so hard?" She laughed. The joy in her laugh broke his heart. She really enjoyed doing this to him.

Kurt thought the worst was over but was soon grabbed by the throat. She tightened her hand and he could barely breathe.

"I think we both know what's going to happen if I hear anything about you singing again. You understand?" She asked softly. Kurt nodded the best he could while being choked. She let him go finally and left the room. Kurt immediately grabbed everything his needed for school and left before she could find another reason to hurt him.

But he knew he couldn't go to school looking like he did. He looked like he had been in a fight. He couldn't let Blaine see him because Blaine would freak out completely.

So he called Wes.

"Hey Kurt what's up?" Wes answered the phone.

"I need to borrow some money and buy something before school. It's urgent please." Kurt rushed out.

"Woah slow down, is everything okay? It sounds like you've been crying." Wes said sounding concerned.

"Well um…some guys beat me up and I look pretty bad. I need to go get some make up to cover my bruises. Please Wes, please don't tell Blaine. I'm okay I promise I'm fine." Kurt rushed out. It was a pretty good lie as long as Wes didn't ask questions.

"Oh my god, Kurt. Are you sure you're okay?" Wes asked.

"Yes, I've had worse happen to me." Kurt said.

"Dammit Kurt. Well what do you want me to do?" Wes asked.

"Meet me at the mall please. And don't freak out." Kurt said. Wes sighed.

"Okay, I'll meet you there in 15 minutes."

* * *

"Holy shit Kurt." Kurt jumped as soon as he head Wes' voice. He looked up to see him staring at him with anger in his eyes. "What the hell? Who are these jerks? We need to tell someone, this is terrible. Look at you!" Wes cried.

"We don't need to tell anyone. I'm fine." Kurt grit through his teeth. Fine was far from the truth but he couldn't tell Wes that. "Come on we need to go to Sephora or something."

"Kurt your arm!" Wes exclaimed. He gently reached out to grab Kurt's arm and was surprised when Kurt jerked away.

"Sorry, I'm just a little nervous okay." Kurt said guiltily. He felt bad for not wanting to be touched by a friend who was just trying to help him.

"Your arm is bruised so much. Did you ice any it?" Wes asked, lowering his voice a little.

"No, I called you right after it happened." Kurt told him.

"Kurt what about your mom? Shouldn't you tell her?" Wes asked. Kurt stopped in his tracks, causing Wes to bump into him.

"Wes, please can I trust you not to tell anyone about this? Please?" Kurt asked with tears in his eyes. Wes bit his lip, he didn't think it was smart to keep something like this from other people. But he had to trust Kurt.

"Okay Kurt. Just this once." Wes said and offered his hand to Kurt, which Kurt hesitantly took. "Before we get your make up I need to clean your bruises and make sure you have no cuts or anything."

Wes took him to the bathroom and took out a first aid kit from his bag.

"So you just carry one of those around?" Kurt asked. Wes rolled his eyes.

"Not this huge one. I have a travel sized one, but I grabbed this one after you told me what happened." Wes said pulling out and ice pack. "What hurts more your arm or your eye?"

"I'm fine Wes." Kurt repeated once again, not meeting Wes' eyes.

"Will you stop saying that?" Wes rose his voice. Kurt looked at him in shock. "I know you said worse has happened but you're my friend and you're obviously hurt. You don't have to pretend like everything is okay Kurt. I'm not going to judge you."

Kurt stared at Wes with wide eyes unable to respond for a moment. He wasn't expecting him to care so much.

"I guess my eye hurts more." Kurt murmured. Wes popped the ice pack so it would get cold and then handed it to Kurt.

"You can hold that on your eye for a little bit." Wes suggested. "Now, your arm isn't cut or anything. Does it feel sprained?"

"I don't think it is. It just hurts." Kurt said.

"Well that's good. Do you want me to check your back?" Wes asked. Kurt frowned.

"How did you know my back hurt?" Kurt asked.

"The way you were walking, you looked more uncomfortable than you usually do." Wes said.

"I usually look uncomfortable?" Kurt asked. He had no idea Wes was so observant of him.

"Well not because you're in pain, I assume. Around people, you usually seem uncomfortable; but you seem to be a little more comfortable with the Warblers." Wes said.

At the mention of the Warblers, Kurt tensed up. He couldn't be in the Warbler's anymore. He didn't want to be hurt anymore.

"Kurt? Are you okay?" Kurt snapped out of it not wanting to worry Wes.

"I'm fine." Kurt assured him.

"Are you sure?" Wes asked again. He didn't believe Kurt.

"Wes if I ever do something you don't completely understand will you still be my friend?" Kurt asked in a small voice.

"Well I'm here right now, about to be late to school for the first time. Believe it or not people other than Blaine care a lot for you." Wes gave him a comforting smile.

"So that's a yes?" Kurt asked.

"Of course Kurt." Wes said. "Now I think you're all cleaned up for the most part. Let's go get your face to look decent."

"Hey." Kurt frowned.

"Oh be quiet, you know I just meant your black eye." Wes said.

"Doesn't mean I want to keep hearing about how terrible I look." Kurt grumbled.

"Your eye will heal soon. And you look fine." Wes said. "Now can we get out of here so I'm not super late? I care about you but I don't want anyone to think I skipped."

"Okay let's go get some makeup." Kurt said. "And remember when we get to school don't-"

"Don't tell anyone. Especially Blaine, your boyfriend. Got it." Wes gave him a thumbs up.

"It's just one lie." Kurt murmured feeling guilty. _That's a lie._

* * *

Kurt felt much better after his face was covered carefully with makeup. You would never be able to tell what the hell he went through this morning. However, as he and Wes made their way back to school he found himself dreading it. He just knew it was going to be a bad day.

He and Wes slipped into their seats, ignoring looks for their friends. They both knew they would be grilled after class.

And they were.

"Wes what the hell you're never late. Did you not see all the texts I sent you? I thought you were kidnapped or worse." David rushed out.

"Were you and Kurt together?" Nick asked.

"Yeah you two did come in together. What's going on?" Jeff asked.

"You guys we are going to be late for our next class." Wes said trying to change the subject.

"You were late once today, you can be late again." David said.

"Does this have something to do with what we were talking about earlier?" Blaine asked Kurt.

"Uh yes, it does." Kurt said quietly.

"What were you guys talking about earlier?" Nick asked.

"Makeup." Blaine said.

"Wait. Kurt you asked Wes for makeup tips?" Jeff rose an eyebrow. Kurt opened and closed his mouth and looked to Wes who inwardly sighed, then spoke up.

"No, he asked me to go get makeup with him and I did. We hung out at the mall having fun and we lost track of time." Wes said.

"Can't believe you got Wes to lose track of time baby." Blaine laughed.

"Woah hold the phone. Baby? When did this development happen? Why am I left out of everything? Wes is hanging out at malls and buying make up and Kurt is now 'baby'. I need a nap. This is too much excitement for one day." David shook his head.

"Come on let's get you to class." Wes grabbed David by the shoulders and guided him to the next class. The rest of the boys follow.

* * *

Kurt was quiet for the rest of the day. His friends continued to joke around about his and Wes' tardiness but he couldn't stop thinking about the Warblers practice that was coming up.

To be in the Warblers was something he really wanted, and his auditions made him realize how much he truly loved to sing.

But then to have your passion tainted with thoughts and fears of getting beaten again, there was nothing he wanted out of his mind more than music, singing, and anything related to that.

He realized his choice would disappoint his group and his friends, and they would want an answer as to why he was doing what he was doing.

And like always he would have the lie about it.

He was not ready to disappoint his team but if one thing were true, it's that he never wanted to sing again.

* * *

"Hey where are you going, practice is about to start?" Blaine asked Kurt as he started walking away from the practice room.

"The bathroom, I'll be right back." Kurt said and hurried to the bathroom. He was happy no one was in there. He was seriously freaking out. He knew that he would have a terrible panic attack if he didn't calm down immediately.

The thought of going in the room and disappointing everyone is making him sick to his stomach. Even more so than the thought of singing again.

He couldn't think about Blaine because Blaine was who he should be singing with.

So he thought about his dad and what his dad would do. His dad would be honest but Kurt couldn't be completely honest.

"What would you think of me right now dad?" Kurt asked looking at himself in the mirror. He had tears threatening to fall down his cheeks but he couldn't cry. He didn't have time to reapply his makeup.

"I remember all the times you told me not to lie when I was little. I'm so sorry. You're the last person I'd ever want to disappoint." Kurt said struggling not to cry. "I wish you were here dad. If you were here maybe I'd okay. Maybe I wouldn't be so messed up."

Kurt thought about what his dad would do now. He would probably hug him tight and tell him he's a little messed up too. Kurt smiled softly at the thought of that but it quickly vanished when reality washed over him. His dad was gone and he had to do this alone.

So he did.

When he walked into the meeting room, he realized he was 10 minutes late. Usually, Wes would give a short lecture about why it's important to be on time when someone is late. However, he just simply told Kurt to take a seat and kept the meeting going. The rest of the group looked at him in shock, wondering why Wes was going so easy on him. Kurt knew it was because of what happened this morning. Well, what Wes thinks happened this morning.

"Okay I want to start with the arrangement for "We Are Young" now. We need to figure out how we are going to start out, we'll practice the song, and Jeff will go over a small portion of the choreography." Wes said.

"Before we start any questions about anything?" David asked. Kurt bit his lip and hesitantly raised his hand. "Yes Warbler Kurt?"

"Um I uh I don't want to sing anymore." Kurt said and the room went completely silent. Kurt wished he couldn't feel everyone's eyes on him, especially Blaine's.

"What do you mean you don't want to sing anymore?" Wes asked incredulously. He was looking at Kurt like he was insane. Kurt understood, he put Wes through too much today.

"I-I don't want to sing." Kurt stumbled over his words. The rest of the room was still silent and he avoided everyone's eyes.

"Why not?" Jeff asked from where he was seated next to Nick and Blaine. Kurt forced himself not to have a breakdown. _Jeff supported me getting the duet with Blaine over his own boyfriend. He must hate me now._

"I just don't want to. You can kick me out if you want, but just understand that I can't sing anymore. Can we leave it alone?" Kurt said in a raised voice. He met eyes with Blaine who looked terribly confused. He looked away immediately.

"We aren't going to kick you out." David said eventually.

"Really?" Kurt asked with disbelief.

"No." Wes sighed. "You can still be in the Warblers. You earned your place in here whether or not you sing. One thing you can choose is who will duet with Blaine now that you won't sing." Kurt looked over at Blaine, who was still looking at him with concern and confusion.

"Uh, Nick can have my spot." Kurt decided.

"I don't understand. You went through so much trouble for that spot, and now you're just handing it away." Nick said looking at his friend, trying to figure out what's going on. Jeff rubbed his boyfriends back soothingly. Kurt looked away from them. _Mom is right, I am a disappointment. I disappoint everyone._

"Warbler Blaine are you okay with this arrangement." Wes asked. Kurt looked at Blaine who was looking at him still.

"Do I have a choice?" Blaine asked, already knowing he didn't.

"Not really." David said casting him a sympathetic glance.

"Then I'm okay with it." Blaine sighed. Wes banged his gavel on the desk.

"Okay, meeting adjourned early, we have to work on some changes now with one less member." Wes said and Kurt felt even worse. As soon as most of the Warblers panned out, Kurt's friends focused their attention on him.

"What the hell is going on with you?" Wes asked.

"Wes, I don't want to talk about it." Kurt told him.

"Kurt, you love to sing. I don't understand." Blaine looked at him sadly. Kurt wanted to tell them that he was scared. That his mother beat him enough to make sure he never wanted to sing again. But he couldn't.

"You'll understand someday. But for now just please forget about it." He urged them. "Please?" All the boys shared a look and then nodded.

"Fine Kurt." Wes let it go. "Will you at least be at our performance?" He asked. Kurt bit his lip.

"I have to ask my mom." He said.

"We can ask her with you." David offered.

"No!" Kurt exclaimed a little too quickly and frantically. "Its fine, I can do it."

Kurt quickly gathered his bags and realized that since meeting the ended early he could spend some time with Blaine. But first, he wanted to apologize to Nick.

"Nick." He said going up to Nick who was now seated on the couch with Jeff. "I'm sorry for springing that on you like that. I guess I should have told everyone before the meeting."

"Kurt you don't have to apologize. We just thought this was something you wanted." Nick said.

"It was but I just can't anymore." He tried to convey with his eyes that he just didn't want to talk anymore about it.

"Okay. If you need to talk you know where to find us." Nick smiled at him. Kurt nodded and then looked around the room to find Blaine gone.

"He's in the hallway." Jeff said. Kurt walked to the hallway to find Blaine sitting on a bench outside looking at nothing.

"Hey, do you want to get out of here? I can hang out for a little bit." Kurt said, sitting down next to Blaine and reaching for his hand. His actions weren't welcomed as Blaine moves his hand away and seemed to ignore Kurt completely. "Blaine?"

"I don't understand you." Blaine said. It hurt a little the way he said it.

"Blaine I said I don't want to talk about it." Kurt sighed.

"You never want to talk about anything. It frustrating Kurt." Blaine said sounding hurt. "I thought you loved singing. I thought you wanted to do this. Are you even going to come to meetings anymore?"

"I haven't thought about it." Kurt murmured. "Blaine if this is about not seeing each other enough in a setting other than class then we will figure something out."

"It's not about that." Blaine stood up and it was the first time Kurt had seen Blaine really angry. He didn't like it at all. "Why didn't you tell me about this before the meeting? This isn't something you keep from the person your singing who is also-"

"Just because you're my boyfriend doesn't mean I have to tell you everything." Kurt frowned.

"I was going to say best friend. Because yes we're boyfriends but first we were best friends. And I thought that meant that we were close and that we could trust each other. But you still don't trust me enough to tell me things like this." Blaine's eyes shone with tears and Kurt longed to do something to stop this from happening. "How is this going to work Kurt?"

"I-I don't know." Kurt murmured.

"Why are you so secretive all the time? Can you tell me that? Do I even really know you?" Blaine pressed him. Kurt felt tears leave his eyes and falls down his cheeks.

"Of course you know me Blaine. You know me better than anyone." Kurt said and it was true.

"I don't know if I do Kurt." Blaine sighed. "Half the time I feel like you're lying to me. Are you?"

For the second time that day, Kurt thought about coming clean about everything. About his mother and what she's been doing to him but he just couldn't.

"This morning I got beat up by some guys and that's why I needed to get some makeup. I called Wes and made him promise not to tell anyone what happened, so he lied for me." Kurt said and it hurt him to just be telling Blaine another lie.

"You were assaulted by someone and you didn't tell me?" Blaine asked sounding heartbroken. Kurt could tell he wanted to check if he was okay but restrained himself. "Why would you feel you couldn't tell me?"

"I don't know Blaine." Kurt said looking away. It was silent for a long time. "Does this fight mean what I think it means?" Kurt asked softly, looking up at Blaine who was already looking at him.

"I don't know anything right now. I just- I'm going to go home." Blaine said wiping his face.

"Oh okay." Kurt said looking down at the floor.

"I just need some time alone." Blaine said.

"I understand." Kurt said. Blaine started to walk away but then turned back.

"Please be safe going home." Blaine said.

"I will Blaine." Kurt said, feeling warm inside because that meant Blaine still cared about him but that feeling dissipated as Blaine walked away. Kurt had no idea how things were going to turn out between them. It hurt. Blaine meant so much to him and the last thing he'd ever want to do is hurt him.

"Hey, it's okay." He heard a soft voice above him and he realized he was crying. It was Wes. He took a seat next to him and patted his knee. "Blaine just needs to cool down. I bet you he'll even call you tonight."

"He said he doesn't understand me." Kurt said looking down the hallway. "Do you understand me?"

"I don't want to hurt your feelings." Wes said after a short pause.

"I might lose my first boyfriend and my best friend, you can't hurt me more than how I'm feeling right now." Kurt said.

"Sometimes, and I think this goes for most of the guys, I think I get you. I'd like to think we've been getting to know each other pretty well. But then you'll have a day like this where you'll throw me off completely." Wes says.

"I…I'm sorry." Kurt said, wiping his eyes.

"This is the thing I don't get, I can tell you don't want to sing because you looked terrified at the mention of the competition. But why can't you tell us why you don't want to do this anymore?" Wes asked.

"Wes please, not right now. I need you to be my friend right now and tell me everything will be okay eventually, walk me to the bus, and call me later after Blaine breaks up with me and never wants to speak to me again." Kurt said crying a little more but even he knew that Blaine wouldn't ever stop speaking to him.

"Kurt you know if you put too much air in a balloon it's going to pop, right?" Wes asked.

"Uh yes, I think that is a little obvious." Kurt said.

"If you continue keeping things from people who care about you, it's not going to end well. You can endure more than a balloon and you are stubborn as hell but everyone has a breaking point Kurt." Wes said and as he expected Kurt was silent. "Anyway, everything will be okay, now let's go to the bus."

"Your pep talks are getting worse." Kurt rolled his eyes and Wes smirked.

"That's the most you, you have sounded all day."

* * *

"Hey Blaine, mom wants you to come down for din…are you crying?" Cooper frowned and walked further into Blaine's room. "Blaine?"

"I'll have dinner later." Blaine sniffed.

"Blaine what's wrong? Did something happen at school? I told you, if something happens you tell someone this time." Cooper frowned more and sat down on the bed next to his brother.

"It's not me. It's Kurt." Blaine said. Cooper detected a little anger in his tone and was surprised.

"Is Kurt alright?" Cooper asked.

"He came to Warblers practice and said that he doesn't want to sing anymore and gave his part in the duet to Nick. He gave me no heads up or anything. The worst part is that he won't even tell me why he's doing this." Blaine said angrily. "And get this. Remember I asked you about make up this morning because Kurt had to cover up a blemish. It was actually because he was beat up by some guys on the way to school and didn't tell me. He told Wes and not me. I don't understand why he's so secretive. I just want to know him. I want to be able to talk to him and not be lied to."

"So it's not the fact that he's not singing anymore or even that you're jealous of Wes, it's that you want him to talk to you?" Cooper asked to clarify.

"Of course. How are we supposed to work as a couple if he doesn't trust me enough to tell me anything?" Blaine asked.

"Do you trust him?" Cooper asked.

"I did. I think I still do. I'm just so hurt." Blaine said. "I want us to work, but maybe we should just end things now."

"Is that what you want?" Cooper asked.

"No." Blaine sighed.

"What did I tell you before you started dating Kurt?" Cooper asked.

"Not to be disappointed if Kurt and I get together and Kurt's still closed off." Blaine murmured.

"Yes, and also that if he wants to change he has to be open to it." Cooper said. "You've told me about some of the conversations you've had recently Blaine. He opened up to you. That's progress. He might be closed off but he's giving you pieces of him."

"But Cooper I want all of him. I want to be able to be there for him and I want him to know he can come to me for anything. I want to know who my boyfriend is and what's on his mind and things about his past." Blaine wiped the tears from his eyes and Cooper put a comforting arm around his brother.

"I know you do Blaine. You give so much of yourself to other people even after all of the crap you've been through. But would you ever have done that while you were going through something?"

"No…maybe not at first."

"Blaine it doesn't take much to tell that Kurt is going through something. I asked if you could handle this before you started dating and you asked him out the day after. You need to be happy Blaine." Cooper said seriously. "It's your choice whether you want to end things or not, I'm not going to tell you what to do but it's only your first fight. You should call him, talk, and if do decide that you are going to break up do it in person."

"You're right, I should talk to him." Blaine said.

"I'll tell mom to wrap your dinner up. I'm going to come check on you in about an hour to see if you're okay." Cooper said getting up from the bed and heading to the door.

"Thank you Cooper, for helping me out. I don't know what I'd do without you." Blaine smiled.

"You probably wouldn't have a boyfriend at all without me." Cooper thought about it. "I'm basically cupid. Now I have you to thank for my Halloween costume."

"Cooper please no cupid. And wouldn't that make more sense to be cupid on Valentine's Day?" Blaine asked regretting it when he saw the gears turning in his brother's head.

"Just imagine the pickup lines. I should start making my costume." Cooper murmured out loud.

"He wears a diaper what do you need to make? You know what, get out of my room, I need to call Kurt." Blaine said getting up to close the door.

"He has love arrows Blaine! A sash too!" Cooper's muffled voice came through the door.

"Bye Cooper." Blaine rolled his eyes. He walked back to his bed and pick up his phone. He took a deep breath before calling Kurt.

"Blaine? You called me." Kurt said sounding relived. Blaine couldn't help but feel bad for leaving the way he did.

"Yeah, uh listen Kurt I'm so sorry." Blaine apologized.

"No don't be sorry. I'm sorry, I ruin everything. I lied to you and that's not the type of person you want to be with and I understand if you want to break up with me." Kurt rushed out before Blaine could continue.

"D-do you want to break up?" Blaine asked.

"Of course not, but the way you looked at me today Blaine…you looked so unsure about me. Unsure about us." Kurt said in an insecure tone.

"Only because I want you to trust me." Blaine said.

"I do trust you Blaine." Kurt said immediately.

"So why do you lie to me? Why do you keep things from me?" Blaine asked and Kurt stayed silent. "See this is what I mean. You don't trust me."

"But Blaine you don't understand, I trust you more than anyone in the world. I trust you more than I trust myself." Kurt tried to get him to believe him.

"If you trust me so much why do you keep so much from me?" Blaine asked.

"There are things I'm not ready to talk about." Kurt chose his words carefully. "Things that, in time, I will tell you. For now, I promise that you know me Blaine better than anyone."

"These things that you aren't ready to talk about, they aren't too serious right? You'd tell me if you weren't okay? Because you don't have to bottle anything up Kurt. I know what that's like, it's not a nice feeling." Blaine said.

"I'm handling it." Kurt said.

"That's not what I asked Kurt."

"Blaine I promise if I were having any trouble you'd be the first person I'd go to." Kurt said and was met with silence. "What did I do now?"

"You went to Wes before me after getting hurt." Blaine said.

"I panicked. I know how you get about…me." Kurt said.

"What are you talking about?" Blaine asked.

"You're protective. And it's nice but I knew that even though Wes is protective too, he wouldn't go and try to find the guy, call the police, tell my mom, and walk me home every single day for the rest of my life." Kurt said.

"I wouldn't have walked you home every single day. Just most days, when you weren't feeling safe." Blaine mumbled.

"Blaine, if this is some kind of deal breaker...if you need to know things about me that I'm not ready to talk about then please tell me now." Kurt said softly.

"It's not deal breaker Kurt." Blaine sighed. "I want to be with you. I just need to feel like you trust me and aren't going to lie to me. I will give you space when it comes to the things you aren't ready to talk about, as long as you promise to come to me when it gets too much."

"I-I okay. I will try." Kurt said.

"So are you okay now?" Blaine asked.

"Are you okay? I was the one who made you so upset and you're just forgiving me like that. Wait…you forgive me right?" Kurt asked. Blaine couldn't help but laugh.

"I do, and I hope you forgive me for the way I reacted. My emotions sometimes get the better of me." Blaine said.

"Don't apologize, you're right about the lying and everything. I'm going to try to be as good a boyfriend as you are." Kurt said.

"Kurt you are a good boyfriend. Couples fights. We just made it through our first fight. I think we'll be stronger after this." Blaine said.

"Do you feel any better after this talk?" Kurt asked him.

"I think so. I think I'll feel better when I see you. I wish it wasn't the weekend." Blaine sighed. Kurt giggled.

"We could go on a date. There's somewhere I want to take you." Kurt said. "Do you think Cooper will drive us somewhere tomorrow?"

"I'll ask him, but I'm sure he will. Do you need us to pick you up?" Blaine asked.

"No, I'll meet you at you're place." Kurt said. "Around noon?"

"Sounds great." Blaine said. "Are you going to tell me where you are taking me?"

"Nope." Kurt said. "But I hope you'll like it as much as I do."

"If it means a lot to you, I'm sure I will." Blaine said sincerely.

"I hope so." Kurt said. "Anyway, I have to go. I have homework to do."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." Blaine said.

"Later Blaine."

* * *

That night Kurt finally had to guts to ask his mother about supporting his friends at their competitions, only to be immediately shot down.

"NO! I don't want any talk of music in this house." She yelled at him.

"Please mom, I let them all down already, the least I can do is go see their show." Kurt pleaded.

"Well you're only going to keep disappointing them because that's what you do. Those shows are a waste of time. They may make you dream of making it big when in reality you'll only turn out like me." She said with a bitter smile. Kurt clenched his fist.

"If you never let me try, how do you know I won't make it?" Kurt challenged.

"You aren't good honey. Stop trying to be so strong and determined. You're only going to be shot down." Elizabeth said as if she were giving him some sort of pep talk. Kurt couldn't take it anymore.

"What is wrong with you? Why can't you just let me be happy! You're just bitter because you aren't doing anything important and I could be someday!" Kurt screamed. There was a beat of silence where they looked at each other and Kurt actually thought something he said got through to her.

Seconds later he would be on the ground with a bloody nose wishing he had never said those words.

* * *

Kurt doesn't cover up his face with make up the next day. He grabs a bag of items he put together the night before and heads out the door after making sure his mother isn't around.

He take the bus to Blaine's house and thinks over his plan in his head. He was nervous. After everything that happened he just wanted Blaine to understand him. He couldn't tell him anything too deep, but he can show him something important to him. He could be vulnerable and just maybe Blaine would see how much Kurt does trust him.

He texts Blaine as soon as he gets off the bus.

 _Just got off the bus. Walking up your block now. -K_

 **Cooper's already by the car. I'll be out in a minute. You can wait with him if you want. -B**

 _Okay, see you soon. -K_

Kurt spots Cooper leaning against the car looking at his phone, as he nears the Anderson household. Cooper looks up and immediately smiles when he sees him. When he gets closer, Cooper's smile falls and he turns angry and immediately comes up to Kurt.

"You really got beat up didn't you?" Cooper asked looking at his face. Kurt had forgotten for a moment that he had bruises on his face. Cooper's heavy attention was making him a bit uncomfortable.

"It's not that bad." Kurt said, shifting about uneasily. _I'm used to much worse._

"You know the guys who did this?" Cooper asked.

"Cooper, please just drop it. I'm fine. I promise." Kurt insists.

"Fine. But if you ever see those guys again just let me know. I'll knock them out for you." Cooper said with confidence.

"Okay Cooper." Kurt rolls his eyes. Finally Blaine emerges from the house and save Kurt from further interrogation.

Blaine was happy to see him of course but Kurt could feel how angry he was when he saw his face but Blaine didn't ask about "the guys" who beat him up.

"How are you feeling? Does anything still hurt?" Blaine asked instead.

"I'm fine. Everything is healing." Kurt smiled at him. The only part of his body that really hurt was his nose.

"Okay Kurt where am I taking you two today?" Cooper asked.

"Can I put the address in your phone?" Kurt asked, wanting it to continue being a mystery.

"I see what you mean by him being secretive." Cooper joked as he passed Kurt his phone. Kurt knew he was joking but couldn't help but feel bad. This day was supposed to be secret free. But they just had to get to where he wanted to be first.

He gave the phone back to Cooper and they all got in the car together. Kurt and Blaine sat together in the back seat.

"So no hints?" Blaine asked smiling.

"Nope." Kurt said. "I'll just say that I think you'll like this date. Well I hope so. That's the plan."

"Oh so you have some elaborate plan?" Blaine asked with a teasing smile on his face.

"It's actually pretty simple." Kurt said.

"Are you going to continue being cryptic the whole ride to wherever we are going?" Blaine asked.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. Who's being cryptic?" Kurt asked.

"You're cute when you're carrying out a plan." Blaine smirked.

"Only then?" Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"You know I always think you're cute." Blaine said taking Kurt's hand and kissing it.

"Even when my face looks like this?" Kurt asks.

"Of course Kurt." Blaine kissed his cheek gently. "You are cute to me no matter what."

"You're always cute to me too." Kurt smiled.

"You guys are too cute. Like so cute right now that I might actually throw up." Cooper said interrupting their sweet moment.

"Just keep driving Coop."

* * *

"A park?" Blaine asked curiously. "It's wintertime Kurt."

"Are you too cold?" Kurt asked, looking worried. "I'm pretty sure it's not going to snow today but I can wait until it's warmer to bring you here."

"No I'm fine, I just wasn't expecting a walk through a park." Blaine said.

"Well you know how I like to keep you on your toes." Kurt smirked. "That being said, it's not exactly just a walk through the park."

"Oh?" Blaine looked at Kurt waiting for him to elaborate but his lips were sealed.

"Are you sure Cooper is fine with waiting in the car?" Kurt changed the subject.

"Yeah. If he gets bored he'll find something to do while he waits." Blaine said.

They walked through the beautiful park with their hands to their sides. Their knuckles brushed along the way. Both wanting to hold hands but knowing there were too many people around. That's kind of what struck Blaine as odd. Kurt seemed calm, barely even tensing at the fact that someone could see them nearly holding hands and say something to them. He seemed so relaxed and open. More than he ever had.

"Okay here we are." Kurt said with small nervous smile on his face.

Kurt had led them to a tiny lake that was surround by trees. There were no other people around, and it seemed that no one knew or cared to come here. Which is probably why Kurt liked it.

Kurt put down a blanket he had in his bag and sat down. He looked up to Blaine and waited for him to do the same.

"This is a quite the spot you've found." Blaine said, sitting down while still looking around in amazement.

"I love it here." Kurt said looking out to the lake with a content look on his face.

"You come here a lot?" Blaine asked.

"Not as much as I'd like." Kurt said. "Do you want to know why we are here?"

"I would say picnic but we seem to be lacking picnic items." Blaine joked.

"Next date I plan we'll have a picnic okay?" Kurt laughed. "But I brought you here because you said you didn't understand me."

"Oh Kurt I was just really upset at the time." Blaine said immediately.

"But it's true, isn't it? You feel that way sometimes?" Kurt asked, looking Blaine in the eyes. Blaine looked away for a second and sighed.

"Yes but we talked about it a little bit already right?" Blaine looked at Kurt for confirmation.

"A little bit. I know what we said, but I just wanted to help you understand me better." Kurt said, taking Blaine's hand in his. "I know I'm not the happiest person or the healthiest person mentally. And I know you know what that feels like. So while I do need time to process somethings and get myself together, I still want you to know that there is more to me that my problems."

"Kurt I-" Blaine tried to speak but Kurt cut him off.

"I need to get all this out okay? So one minute okay?" Blaine just nodded. "When I was little my parents would take me to this park. There's a playground very close to where we are now, that's where we used to go. I always played on the monkey bars. My dad had to help me at first but I learned pretty quickly."

"One day we went and these kids were around the monkey bars. I was about 7 at the time. I was nervous about playing there because they were all bigger than me. But I went, waited my turn and got on the monkey bars. I don't remember much but all I know is one of the kids was teasing me for some reason, and it resulted in them grabbing my legs and pulling me until I fell on the ground face first." Kurt saw the angry look on Blaine's face smiled sadly. "Kids are terrible sometimes. You would think I would grow up and be tougher but look at me now. Almost 8 years later and I'm still getting beat up."

"Don't say that." Blaine frowned. "You are tough."

"Right. Sorry getting a bit off topic." Kurt said, obviously not believing what Blaine had said about him. "Anyway, instead of going to my parents I ran because I was embarrassed. I didn't know where I was going. I had blood all over my face and I was sobbing. I was a mess. Eventually I stopped because I was out of breath and I ended up here. I sat down where we are now and tried to stop crying and then my dad found me."

"He sat next to me, cleaned my face, and sang my favorite songs. This became our spot for a while." Kurt said smiling at the memories of coming here with his dad. "We both liked the quiet and each other's company. But for some reason, when I was 9 he stopped taking me. I never asked why, because before I never had to ask him to take me."

He didn't go into the details about his mother's and father's divorce. There was too much information that he couldn't let Blaine find out just yet. Like how after the divorce his father should have had full custody of him. Some of the details, even he didn't fully understand.

"After he died, I had a hard time accepting it. So I came here. It was the first time I felt some relief. No one knew me better than my dad, no one understood me more than him." Kurt choked up.

"So when he died you felt like no one understood you?" Blaine asked.

"Every person I met before coming to Dalton treated me like I didn't matter. Then that's how I started to feel Blaine." Kurt said looking over at him. "And then I met you. I met your crazy friends. And now they're our crazy friends. But I just want to make something clear. Every moment I'm smiling, I'm sassy, I'm freaking out over something, or I'm telling you a story like this. Anytime you feel like you know me, the real me. I want you to know that you do. This is me Blaine. I'm not perfect, I have secrets. I have a shitty past I don't want to talk about yet. You can't tell me that you tell me everything or that you've never hidden anything from the guys until you were ready to talk about it." Kurt challenged. Blaine rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well maybe sometimes. But Kurt there are things you just don't lie about." Blaine said motioning to Kurt's face. Kurt paused. Once again, he almost wanted to come completely clean. Tell Blaine everything about what has been happening to him.

But he couldn't. He was too scared. He had no idea what would come from it.

"I won't lie about being hurt anymore. Or I'll try not to. But if I do, it's only because I'm embarrassed or scared of how you'll react." Kurt said. "And also probably because I don't know how to deal with it."

"You took me to this beautiful place to tell me all that?" Blaine tried to lighten the mood.

"I took you here because I feel safe here. I come here when things seem like they're falling apart because I know I'll always leave feeling better." Kurt smiled. Blaine looked at Kurt with a look he couldn't yet describe.

"Come here." Blaine laid down on his side and opened his arms. Kurt stared at him for a second before laying down and placing himself in Blaine's arms so they were facing each other.

"I'm sorry for saying I didn't understand you. I may not get some of the things you do just yet, but as you pointed out I know you at your core. And all those things are what I like about you. You are the most interesting person in all of Ohio."

"You can't really think that." Kurt whispered, eyes shining.

"There is no one like you Kurt. I'm so happy that you are letting me get to know you." Blaine said. "And I'm so proud of you for being so open with me. Thank you."

"Anytime. Now I think it's only fair you tell me another Blaine story." Kurt smirked.

"What do you want to know?" Blaine asked

"How you came out to your parents." Kurt said.

"You know the best version of that story is told by my parents." Blaine smiled. "I know I mentioned it a few nights ago, but I really would love if you'd meet them. Next weekend?"

"Do you think they would like me?" Kurt asked.

"Of course, they are always asking about you. The fact that you make me happy will make them love you." Blaine's smile widened.

"Oh." Kurt blushed. "Well then yes I'll meet your parents." Kurt smiled nervously.

"Great, next weekend you can come over for dinner." Blaine said. "That's if your mom is okay with it of course."

"I-I'm sure she'll be okay with it." Kurt said, especially because he wasn't going to tell her.

"Great. And then after that, I have to meet your mom of course." Blaine said and Kurt tried his best not to look uncomfortable.

"Uh yes of course." Kurt faked a smile.

"I can't wait." Blaine said holding Kurt closer, not knowing how scared his boyfriend was feeling right then.

Kurt wished he could share the enthusiasm but he felt terrified. Blaine could never meet his mother. But how was he supposed to tell him that could never happen?

It was always one problem after another.

* * *

 **Kurt and Blaine had their first fight and made it through it! But has anything really changed? Let's just say things get rocky for our boys as someone becomes a little more observant...**

 **Okay I'll give a hint for the next chapter: Kurt meets the parents! Blaine is curious about Kurt's relationship with his mom...**

 **Dun dun duuuun!**

 **Until next time! xx**


End file.
